THE VRYGROND community gathered outside Muizenberg police station on Thursday demanding answers and accountability over the death of 42-year-old Cebisa Silwana, with her family rejecting claims that she was “acting” when she became seriously ill at the station.
According to police, Cebisa was taken to the station for her safety following an altercation at a house on Saturday night, where she later collapsed and was declared dead by paramedics.
Her sister, Neliseka Silwana, however, told Daily Voice that Cebisa had nothing to do with the family dispute and was asleep when police arrived at their home.
Neliseka said Cebisa was a mother of three and had been recovering from a C-section after suffering a stillbirth at eight months just two weeks earlier.
She said the argument was between another sister and their sister-in-law over comments made on WhatsApp statuses.
Neliseka told the Daily Voice: “The wife left and came back with two police officers. They came with the policemen to our house and they were banging and pushing on our door.”
She said Cebisa woke up while she was speaking to police and suggested the family resolve the matter themselves.
Neliseka alleged that an officer then tried to handcuff Cebisa despite the family explaining that she had recently undergone surgery.
She said: “We told him that she had an operation and the police officer said ‘he doesn’t care’.”
Neliseka further alleged that Cebisa was wearing thin pyjamas and that a neighbour brought her a jacket to keep warm, but “the officer threw it out in the water”.
The family accompanied Cebisa to the police station, where Neliseka said her condition deteriorated.
She explained: “We all accompanied Cebisa to the police station and that is when she started getting dizzy, breathing hard and got worse.
“I tried to do CPR, get water and felt there was no pulse. The one officer said that she is acting so that she can go home. Not one officer came to help us. I called the ambulance.”
Paramedics later declared Cebisa dead.
A peaceful protest was held outside Muizenberg SAPS, where residents handed over a memorandum calling for the Provincial Office to take over the investigation, saying the matter was not being treated with enough urgency.
Provincial police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed the memorandum had been received and said an investigation was ongoing.
Van Wyk said: “An investigation is currently ongoing and very sensitive. The District Commissioner of Wynberg Cluster appointed a team to investigate the allegations internally against the member involved.”
Van Wyk said the memorandum had been forwarded to the District Commander for attention.
Neliseka said Cebisa had been recovering well after her operation.
The hartseer sister said: “She was perfectly fine and had no complications after her C-section, if the police did not come she would still be alive.”
