The massive community of about 150 000 former South Africans living in Australia must be somewhat bemused by the accusations of racism currently being levelled at certain members of the Australian Police. Many of them had after all left the land of their birth to start a new life down under where racism and crime were no longer a significant threat.
Often it was a case of trading financial security for a better quality of life devoid of the dangers that seemingly lurked around every corner back home.
Now the issue of racism is starting to raise its ugly head all over again.
In January, Victorian police were accused of racism by an Indian newspaper following a statement that claimed that there was no evidence to suggest the stabbing murder of a young Punjabi man in Melbourne was motivated by racism. The murder, which remains unsolved, followed rising numbers of robberies and attacks against Indian students in the southern state.
Now it is the turn of the African community to raise concerns about racism after a report claimed that officers of one of the state police forces harassed and beat African youths and taunted them with terms like “monkey”.
Chief Commissioner Simon Overland of Victorian police, which has been under fire for its handling of attacks on Indian students, including a murder, said the overwhelming majority of officers were not racist.
The old “overwhelming majority” defence used by so many for so long to justify the actions of a significant number who are somehow — in their minds — hidden by the reference to this mass of right thinkers. Employed unsuccessfully by inter alia English football officials who claimed that the overwhelming majority of supporters were law-abiding citizens while the small minority delivered weekly doses of Armageddon to the rest during the 70s and 80s.
Overland is however a man of grim resolve : “Racist attitudes held by members of Victoria Police, that is not OK. Acting on those racial attitudes is clearly not OK and, where we find it, people can expect that I will deal with them in the strongest possible terms.”
Of course like South Africa during apartheid, where racism flowed unchecked, the official view is that wherever and whenever officialdom come across this evil they will immediately stamp on it and crush it until it is no more. Unfortunately it so happened that the officials were always out or tying their shoes at the crucial moment and somehow missed it.
What bad luck!
A report prepared by a local Australian legal service, which interviewed 30 African youngsters and eight community workers, said some police used offensive terms such as “monkey” and targeted Africans for random searches and questioning. In one case, officers allegedly removed their uniforms so they could beat a group of black men who refused to leave a Melbourne park, it claimed.
This of course made it very difficult for other members of the Australian Police who were with the offending officers at the time, to identify that these were in fact the colleagues that they had arrived with. After all once in mufti the cobbers must have been almost invisible or, if not, at least unrecognisable.
Overland was furious : “If that’s happened, it’s criminal and if we find evidence of that I would expect that officer or those officers to be charged. The vast majority of my staff actually understand that message all too well and in fact not only understand it, they are not racist. They absolutely understand their responsibilities to the community.”
Perhaps instead of Overland the Aussies should have come Oversea because despite 30 African witnesses and 8 social workers none of the other officers involved in these incidents saw a bloody thing mate. Must have been fascinating to hear their accounts :
“We wuz in that park (pronounced “paaaak”) when all of a sudden these wo … er children appeared from nowhere mate. Some of our fellow officers went into a phone booth and we never saw them emerge. Next thing we know there are these unidentifiable almost invisible civvies attacking these poor kids. It all happened so fast we couldn’t do a thing. Must be the worst 90 minutes of my life.”
Of course the director of the Springvale Monash Legal Service which produced the report, Helen Yandell, was unconvinced and said that there was a culture of discrimination within Victoria Police.
“We can’t say it’s a few isolated bad cops when we’re talking about (allegations) three major regions across Melbourne.”
Of course Yandell wasn’t there and it’s easy for her to make these allegations without going through the trauma and extreme difficulty of trying to identify a police colleague who has removed his uniform. Besides there are only 38 witnesses after all.
Overland said police were already working to strengthen their relationships with all multicultural groups, including the African community.
The ties that bind … you to a tree.
Could these rogue police be be South african expats perhaps teaching the locals how its done? just asking
sounds too much of a coincidence to me
The Aussies have always been racists.
Not sure it is fair to compare Australian police to Apartheid police. One lot are breaking the law by being racist. The other lot were upholding the law by being racist.
Haiwa I doubt it but I bet the Aussies come bounding down to tell me that there isn’t a racist among them.
haiwa, another coincidence: rising numbers of robberies and attacks and African immigrants…
Ha-ha, nice try, dear old Traps. The rising wave of corruption and looming spectre of racial conflict in South Africa must be depressing I know; what better way to deflect from this sea of troubles than by pointing elsewhere (and of course, to ‘balance the books’; you have been saying some naughty things about the ANC and South Africa recently, haven’t you?) . Might help some of the disillusioned and disingenuous on this forum vent their spleens, but other than that a non starter; it won’t change what is South Africa’s reality. Come, make it 150 001, it’s lekker and safe.
An interesting take on the issues. I have lived in Australia for 3 years and certinly in my experience ( and that of friends and colleaguse of all races) I would not agree with the implication that Aussie police are racist. As everywhere in the world there re always exceptions and this is what the “investigation” has homed in on.
Helen Yandell and her team were tasked with investigating police racism – and it would have been a really worthles report if she had found none. Without doubt there was a hidden agenda. Racism in South Afrca during Apartheid was institutionalised – there is absolutely no way anything similar would be tolerated in Australia – particularly with the somewhat shady past the country hasin dealing with ndigenous peoples.
Certainly not perfect, but to compare it to South Afric is an insult
Wonder what the “150 000 former South Africans living in Australia” has to do with the story? Sounds like Mr Trapido is himself unhappy that he is trapped in SA and not one of the 150 000!!!!
oh please why worry about oz.
at least there is law and order here.
thank god i dont live in sa anymore.
To draw a comparison between the Victoria police and the apartheid-era cops of South Africa who murdered, tortured, abused and insulted blacks on a daily basis is ludicrous and offensive. This is just another Aussie-bashing exercise.
Overland also makes the point that the police have not yet seen the report, nor been asked to respond to it, the report will only be released on Thursday. These are allegations nothing has been proved. I heard the interview on the ABC, and I seem to reall the spokeswoman for the legal agency saying that none of the “victims” had laid charges,why not?
Hey Trapido,
I see that your new liberated SA police services are so efficient that there are far more murders in custody now than ever occurred during the darkest days of apartheid. I suggest you sort that merry mess out before worrying about a few incidents in Australia. Oh yes, and don’t forget about your farmers that are getting wiped out. Maybe the SAPS shoudl have look at that too. How much did the ANC pay you to write such rubbish?
The overwhelming majority of people in the world are not racist, yet the overwhelming majority of countries in the world have racial problems.
Then I wonder why M&G does not publish a similar article condemning the attack of 11 black metro cops in Pretoria on one white woman as was reported in other papers. Maybe because black racism doesn’t exist? Pathetic…
I cannot count the number of times my son was called a monkey and worse, by teachers, his mother (that’s me) and others. But since he is white and they were all white, it’s not racism. Monkey relates to more than skin colour; it denotes an attitude. If you all, like sheep, follow me?
haiwa tigere – exactly my thoughts
Here we go again so taking a dig at SA’s expats. Black with the tarnished halos being made out to be the underdog.
Never consider that the police have had a guts full of the crime and pussy footing around by pro human rights groups where anything the police do is blown out of proportion by the community.
For some reason from the UK to Aus. there are two laws one of which is how handle blacks when making an arrest. I have witnessed how the police do it here. Resist arrest and you get the shit knocked out of you. So now because the person is black it is a racist attack. As we all know when the boot is on the other foot we hear the thunder of silence.
certainly there is racism, corruption and crime in australia. there’s also a political will and resources to try and tackle these ills.
if you really want to have a go at australia, you need look no further than how we treat our indigenous people. that is truly shameful.
i am an expat living in wonderful melbourne
if you don’t have the facts, rather shut up
this is all rumour and (stupid) press speculation.
same as the australian racists assaulting indians — most of the assaults are being committed by refugees from ethopia and somalia
at least our pollies don’t chant ‘kill the boers’
have you not got enough problems of you own in sa, without flinging this crap at australia
Much fun as it might be to return the compliment to the Aussies for their years of strident denunciation of apartheid “racism”, it doesn’t befit the author of this article to fall into the same intellectually lazy trap. How can he be certain that the African immigrants are brutalized merely on account of the colour of their skin and not because of their violation of behavioural norms? Maybe, as the inevitable result of PC-mandated ignorance, the police genuinely could not anticipate the consequences of an influx of third world immigrants. Similarly the Asian students are wrong to allege racism in the attacks, when it is an easily ascertainable fact that Asians are generally of slighter posture than Africans and therefore more likely to be the victim rather than aggressor in any scenario of interracial conflict. My point is that it is intellectually more honest and more likely to yield a solution if we treat race as a contingent fact of cultural difference rather than as the sole determinant of such conflicts.
It’s totally amazing how “loyal” the expats are to Australia – that lily white (figuratively speaking) country of no sin and all round perfection. Pity they usually don’t have a single good thing to say about the country of their birth – the country that no doubt educated them to a post graduate degree from which Australia now reaps the benefit. It is just nauseating when expats need to justify their leaving RSA with a deluge of negativity and bucket loads of criticism. It’s bloody irritating that expats think that every white South African wants to immigrate to oz but can’t because they are just not good enough or whatever! Get a life expats! Oh sorry, you have a life in “wonderful” oz! You emigrated – good on you mates! Just be happy and stop imaging that every single one of us wants to follow you there – you couldn’t be further from the truth – I hope and pray I never have to leave this magnificent country and all the vibrant people of personality and character. Of course we have a problem with crime and corruption – but the glass is half full – not half empty – if there are two million so called “baddies” then there are forty six million so called “goodies” – and I personally know hundreds of the latter. Unfortunately some of the former are in government which is a tough one – but leave RSA – not easily mate! Not easily!
@ Michael Trapido.
Not much to write about this week? Was this the best you could do? Or was it (a feeble) attempt to feel better about South Africa?
Boerpoep and Steve summed it up for me. Have you been to the US, Canada, or any country in Europe lately? Or do just follow whatever story the sensationalist tabloits drags onto your comfy armchair? Heard of investigative journalism?
Jeez. Reminds me of what I witnessed on Louis Botha Av on Joburg the other day. In 5 o’clock traffic a whole gang of cops armed to the teeth (machine guns included) dragging a motorist and companions out of a car and pistol-whipping them silly before throwing them on the ground and violently handcuffing them, halting traffic. Now I leave it to you to guess the skin-colours of the cops and the occupants of the car.
i had a fun episode with some of cape town’s finest last weekend. they didn’t come out and say that they stopped and searched me because i “looked nigerian” and was on foot in sea point at 5am — i had walked a friend home from green point and was watching them setting up for the cycle race — but when i put the question to them [as only an american would], they didn’t deny it.
i didn’t tell them that i was going to blog about the incident at the time, but i sure did do so later on.
eerily reminiscent of when i lived in france, except the policemen who gave me the blues on sunday morning were black, not white.
Come on Traps, surely you do not believe all the rubish you read, I have been to Australia manny times and find Australians very tolerant in general and the police very relaxed, well mannered and courteous, however if you want to make trouble and push their authority you will find that they will enforce the law no matter what, as they do in every other country.
I do not believe the source of your information.
Tony
I do not believe they will act without provation
Excellent perspective for us to ponder on Mundundu.
Most all of our black countrymen and women will and have at some time suffered terrible indignity and abuse from their own black police, public servants, employers; – BECAUSE they are black. But if a white person were to look askance at them, then they become indignant.
Black cops dont profile white citizens, but they most certainly do profile black citizens. Go figure.
Come come Rosemorow sower grapes, expats are in Australia because they “can”they would not go in the first place if it was not for the current situation in this country, and I surly do not have to spel it for you.I am 70 years hold and am thinking of emigrating to Australia to join my family there, it will be painfull but I cannot see the end of the tunnel.
Tony
I lived in Australia for a year in 1994 and found the country wonderfully open and friendly. The current focus on race and racism is related to their social and political commitment to equality and they are openly exposing and discussing these problems in ways South Africa never will.
The cops in SA are brutal. A [black] student from UKZN in Durban was brutally murdered by the police for no apparent reason than being out late. My partner was assaulted in Umbilo police station for reporting a crime as were members of the community policing forum that also reported crimes.
Australia may have some race problems but they are openly addressing and confronting them in a way South Africa is not.
Racism and Xenophobia are exactly the same and caused by the same factors – CULUTE being invaded by another culture.
Only where there is full employment, good education, and the majority is not threatened by another culture will it stop.
And Africa is the only continent that calls it xenophobia (to try to make black racism sound different from white racism).
The rest of the world calls it neo-racism
Vent, Rose, vent! Good. Feeling a bit better now?
That’s it, I can take no more of this. I’m packing up my Sydney home of 12 happy, carefree years and heading back to South Africa.
The, “vast majority” of people in the world are not, “terrorists”…so I guess we should not worry about thsoe people who are terrorists?! The same logic is being applied in Australia re racism; “the vast majority of cops are not racist, so we should not worry about thsoe who are”.
Guys what makes me smile is that if you just scroll back a couple of articles you would know that I am merciless on South Africa.
Yet just nick an Aussie finger and you guys are up in arms howling your innocence.
What’s wrong guys did I hit a nerve?
Your record in this department is not as clean as you would have us believe with boats being turned back, your treatment of the aboriginal population hardly wonderful.
When SA played cricket there a couple of years back the players were complaining about racist abuse.
If you think I pull punches on South Africa just look at the topics on the page. Read the articles and be astounded.
But please don’t fob off issues by claiming that Aussie is squeaky clean.
Thast’s the white mentality of South Africa during apartheid and its ugly.
For many the fairy tales must be right and so what is black is bad and what is white is good.
Such pathetic idiots have trotted out in their ludicrous finest here: trapped by Traps.
I suggest such Whitey reads the history, both SA and Australian from which it is indubitably apparent that the ultimate aggressor is Whitey and the greatest fraud is his Christianity: the bloody fools simply worship themselves. Talk about kiss arse. They manage to kiss their own!
Amongst SA’s problems there is presently a preponderance of the evil we have inherited. But SA is vibrant, internationally pertinent and has enormous possibilities, precisely because of its problems as shown by the courageous successes it has had over the past more than a decade now.
I know this will never pass traps’s delicate censorship sensibilities but how useful is the race card! It can even be applied to Oztralia! Be realistic traps; Oz has a few racist incidents and bad cops – yep, I’ve been there, even the most casual observer will note that their cops are plentiful on the street, smart, polite and helpful. The crime rate is miniscule compared to SA’s. SA has many good cops but also plenty of corrupt, brutal and incompetent ones. A young relative was badly beaten up without reason by an SA cop recently. White on white; no racism but disgraceful. Sadly, in policing, as in most sports, the Ozzies beat us just about every time.
Don’t flatter yourself Traps: no, you did not hit a nerve. Very few if any of the respondents above claim Australia is ‘squeaky clean’, but I am sure you already know that. By pretending they have done so, you merely expose your clumsy attempt to explain a bit of tardy ‘journalism’.
I disagree. Firstly, you will see a lot of Indians working after midnight in Filling stations and 24 hour stores which means they are out and about at unsavory hours – this is dangerous no matter what colour you are. It also does not help to walk around with an iPod and expensive apparel. Oz is not without crime and in major cities; the same rules apply as anywhere in the world. The Indian media have had egg on their face a few times now jumping to conclusions about attacks – two recent murders had Indian attackers pointed out.
Anyway, there are certain groups of a specific ethnicity that tend to commit more crime than others (this includes South Sea Islanders too) and I cannot blame the Police for having a negative perception on certain groups.
Here though, as mentioned, things are brought out to the open and not swept under the carpet.
We would all love to live back in SA but I am afraid that the hatred is simply too much of an energy leech on my system. Thanks for pointing it out though; I am sure the necessary steps will be taken to rectify the problem here.
Michael, on monday 22 March there was an unseasonable hail storm in Perth that caused great damage to the city and suburbs with abaut 150000 homes left without electricity. This morning, 23 March electricity has been restored to these homes. The electricity department worked through the night in the service of their ratepayers. Please please Michael tell me that in a similar situation we would get the same response from our City Power,
Escom or whoever. EISH!!!
Tony
Tony – I have never been without electricity for longer than a day for as long as I have lived in Durban – severe storms or whatever. I know of others who have gone overnight in very severe circumstances and perhaps in the country they may not be so well off – I can only speak for my own experience. Eskom supplies the city council and we get our electricity from them. Even in the dark days of load shedding, we were off for three or four hours at most. Perhaps I am just in a good area. Municipal workers are out and about at all hours of the night and day…. but why are we talking about electricity supply?
Why so much hype about isolated incidence of racism in Australia? It occurs all over the world, and is institutionalised in our very own government structures. What government on earth (including the former apartheid regime)would openly defend songs which advocate the killing of certain ethnic groups within a country?