Paul W Reynell, Bloubergstrand
A senior resident of Dolphin Beach Hotel had a mix-up with her medication (prescribed after a recent operation) and was not only dazed and confused, but also left in a paranoid frame of mind whereby she was traumatised at the thought that she was being followed by an armed gang.
She sat all night until 1am in the reception of the Blowfish restaurant, and at that point the manager on duty called Table View police to assist the woman – possibly take her home, check her residence and put her mind at ease that all was okay and it was a mix-up with her medication.
Two officers arrived and then left refusing to help the woman as they had rounds to do in Big Bay.
It was left to Blowfish management to assist the woman and get her home safely.
This is absolutely appalling, as the police are meant to be our community guardians – in every sense of the word.
The police could have taken her to Blaauwberg Hospital or, at the very least, seen her safely home.
She was convinced she was going to get murdered that night – and restaurant management, who are not skilled in this area of community service, had to step in where the police refused to.
She can be very thankful that the Blowfish management take the well-being of their local community and clients so seriously that a manager literally put this citizen to bed.
Captain Adriana Chandler, from the Table View police station, responds: The following information was relayed to me by the officer who attended to the “complaint”.
Table View SAPS received a complaint of a house break-in that had taken place at Blowfish restaurant.
When the officers arrived at the scene, they discovered that it was not a house break-in, but the complainant who needed assistance with an elderly woman who was paranoid that people were following her.
The woman asked that the officers stay with her at her hotel in Dolphin Beach while she wanted to freshen up and then return to the restaurant.
The officers indicated that they cannot wait at her hotel while she takes a shower/ freshens up as they had to attend to their work. The complainant then indicated to the officers that he will arrange for the woman to be escorted home and return her to the reception.
The officers then left the restaurant to attend to their work.