WATCH: ‘Three policemen came into my room while I was naked’: Eden Park councillor on incident causing tension between Saps and the community

A 30-year-old female named Le-Andre Matthyse shared a shocking video online alongside Curt Van Heerden outlining an incident that occurred earlier this week where three policemen allegedly burst into her room while she was naked to conduct a drug search.

Community members from Eden Park are stunned and frustrated after videos circulated on social media, adding to tensions between Eden Park South African Police Service (Saps) officers and the broader community.

Police burst in room

The incident reportedly took place on Sunday morning around 8am.

“So yesterday (Sunday) morning around 8, while I was still in bed, three policemen entered my bedroom without knocking, without permission, nothing,” Matthyse noted.

In the video, she explained that three policemen burst into her house without knocking to conduct a drug search.

“Which we allowed them to do.”

Drug search while naked

“They searched my parents, and then they asked me to get out of bed,”

“My parents told them, but she’s naked.”

Despite this, the policemen insisted that she get out of bed.

“So I stood up because they were busy taking off the blankets, and then I just moved from one bed to another because they were moving the mattresses and stuff, in search of drugs.”

“Only in my bedroom,” she noted.

“And they couldn’t care that I was naked; they were just searching.”

‘Just sort it out with the policemen’

“So I came to the police station to open a case, but the sergeant just told me to sort it out with the three policemen,” Matthyse said.

Curt van Heerden, CEO of Institution of Grace Rehab Centre took to Facebook Live to share her story and attempt to seek justice by accompanying her to open a case at Eden Park Saps.

However, this led to more commotion once he was stopped by what he described as coloured men who reside in the community, who refused to give him entrance to help Le-Andre open her case.

Video: Dino Peterson- Captioned: This is my official statement regarding the videos of Curt van Heerden at Eden Park SAPS last night.

Retaliation

Eden Park Ward Councillor Dino Peterson released a statement on how the matter was handled and called Curt van Heerden out for making the incident ‘political’ and escalating it online the way he did.

While also pointing out that this was not an attack towards Van Heerden, Peterson said that he must call him out on the comments and allegations made regarding Eden Park Saps and the community.

You have the right to open a case

He referred to the first video, in which Van Heerden explained that he was blocked from entering the police station to assist Le-Andre in opening a case.

“Nobody must ever be denied entry to the police station, not by community or by police officers themselves,” Peterson said in response.

“The right to have a crime registered and investigated is derived from constitutional provisions like Section 12 (freedom and security of the person, including being free from violence) and Section 205 of the South African Constitution, which obligates the South African Police Service (Saps) to prevent, combat, and investigate crime.”

Further explaining that anyone who tries to prevent someone from opening a case contravenes those rights.

‘I was shot by police’

“I myself was shot in the back and paralysed by a police officer and fought the Minister of Police for 15 years until I won the case in the Pretoria High Court,” Peterson remarked.

Stating that there is no way he would defend police who abuse their authority or the community.

“But when they do their work, I respect them and will never interfere in their work.”

‘This is not how we do things’

“We don’t do things for Facebook likes and content here in Eden Park,” Peterson asserted.

Peterson also raised red flags about the interaction between the men at the police station off camera, adding that he should be asking relevant questions about who the people were and why she casually accepted their help after reportedly calling Van Heerden to assist her.

In the video, Le-Andre can then be heard asking the one person, “kan ek my saak maak” (can I open/make my case), then that guy responds and says “jy kan my Skat, kom ons gaan in” (yes, you can my sweetheart, let us go inside).

‘Was that not strange to you?’

“Was all of that not strange to you, that the girl spoke casually and was very familiar with the people who stopped you?” Peterson asked.

He noted that she didn’t argue with them at all; “in fact, they offered to go in with her.”

“Did you ask her who those people were?” Peterson asked.

Implying that he could’ve been fooled by the reality of the situation.

“You were called all this way only to be stopped by people at 9 or 10pm last night in this cold when many of us were sleeping already?” Peterson asked rhetorically.

‘Do your research’

“Do your research about the complaint you received,” Peterson emphasised.

“How did those guys know you would be at the police station at that exact moment, when this incident happened the day before in the morning, as per the girl’s explanation in your first video?”

Peterson continued to ask, “Who called those guys?”

Adding that Van Heerden was the one who made the incident political after his confrontation with the men at the police station, in front of a camera.

“You say ‘is this how you wanna play’ and that it’s political and that you do not know who is behind this but you have an idea who is behind,” Peterson said.

Establish facts first

“You came without establishing any facts,” Peterson stated.

Peterson also raised the question of why Le-Andre would go out of her way to ask him specifically to help her open a case following the incident, rather than anyone else in the community.

Why didn’t she go to CPF, Gender Justice organisations, Pastors, or community leaders first, before going to Van Heerden for help?

“I am the Ward Councillor of Eden Park, you know this and so does the community, and I’m very politically active and involved in my community,” Peterson said.

‘You are not the messiah’

“You (Curt van Heerden) present yourself as the messiah who was called to Eden Park because, according to you, residents of Eden Park are just a bunch of awful people who are busy with nonsense.”

In Dino Peterson’s recent statement, he noted receiving numerous complaints about drugs being sold at the residence Le-Andre stays at from as early as 2022.

“The very first complaint came to my attention as far back as 3 March 2022; these complaints over the years were given through to the drug units as and when they came through.”

Adding that there are screenshots available; however, in an effort to protect the complainants’ identities, they have been withheld.

A dry spell?

He noted that after a while things went silent.

“Whether the activities stopped or not, I can honestly not say.”

He added that he is unaware of whether the community decided to rather report them directly to security clusters or companies assisting Saps or EMPD in their operations.

“I do not know because on my end the complaints went quiet.”

The same address

Peterson explained that when he first saw the video on Monday morning, he enquired and discovered that it occurred at the same address where tip-offs had been given by the community.

“I must admit I found it quite peculiar that none of us in the community, including people in the same street, were aware or alerted to the incident on Saturday morning.”

“(The incident) apparently happened around 7:30am or 8am on Saturday and the video at the police was around 9 or 10pm on Sunday evening.”

Community Support

He added that he followed up with Natalie from iMatter, a Gender Justice community organisation, on Monday to gather facts and see whether she had been assisted with the case.

“The CPF chairperson then also asked some ladies from the CPF support structures to go with them.”

Upon arrival at her home, Le-Andre’s father said she was at work, where Natalie reportedly left her contact number so she could call when she’s home and they can return.

Why Le-Andre allegedly went to Curt first

Peterson said her father’s alleged reason for not working with people from Eden Park is that they’re jealous of him and his family because he is a co-signatory of the Heritage Fund of 1966, worth US$50 trillion, that the government is trying to access.

“According to her father, SAPS said they arrested someone, and the person was in possession of drugs; he informed them that he bought the drugs from that address, and that is how they ended up there.”

Peterson also noted that she gave them consent to search the house, as seen in the video.

“She does not say they restrained her or prevented her from covering herself.”

“She also doesn’t mention if they searched her or not, but be that as it may.”

Warrant for search while undressed

After seeking legal advice with law enforcement officers regarding what happens when a male or female is undressed during a search, Peterson said that if police have a valid search warrant issued by a magistrate or judge, they have the legal right to enter and search a property.

However, under Section 22 of the Criminal Procedure Act, police can search a property without a warrant if the owner gives voluntary consent, or if officers have reasonable grounds to believe a warrant would have been issued and waiting for one would cause evidence to be lost or destroyed.

“Finding an occupant unclothed does not cancel out a legally justified search or stop officers from exercising their statutory authority.” Peterson highlighted.

The right to privacy

Adding that everyone in South Africa has the right to privacy (section 14) and human dignity (section 10) under the constitution, he asserted that she is entitled to reasonable accommodation.

“While police may continue their search to secure the premises or look for evidence, standard police protocol and constitutional obligations require them to respect a person’s dignity.”

“Officers should allow the naked individual a reasonable opportunity to cover themselves or get dressed as soon as it is safe and practical to do so, unless doing so would compromise officer safety or lead to the destruction of evidence.”

‘People undress to evade being searched’

Speaking to another Saps member, Peterson mentioned that it is a common occurrence for people to undress themselves or be naked when they are searched at some of the drug houses they receive complaints on.

“They say people do this to prevent police from searching their person or the premises.”

Concluding his statement, Peterson said that there was nothing wrong with wanting to register a case.

Investigate

“Not Saps, nor anyone else, can deny her the right to do so; let Ipid [Independent Police Investigative Directorate] investigate.”

“Put pressure on them that’s perfectly fine, it is not political. But don’t give the impression that Eden Park does not care and did nothing to offer support when they became aware of the lady’s allegations against SAPS.”

“We must equally not ignore Saps version, based on previous complaints and information they received, as their grounds for conducting the search,” Peterson concluded.

As of Wednesday, Van Heerden and Matthyse have officially opened a case at Eden Park Saps and continue to share videos online after a weeklong battle of confrontation at the police station.