Failed Settlement

With the trouble I had with police (much of it described on this blog), I proposed a settlement. I said I didn’t want millions (a sum a police unit put on their offences) – just an apology. I met the police therefore with an attorney. Soon the attorney got back to me: yes! we had it in the bag. I paused to read the settlement – amended by Colonel ADA Coetzee. He had sneaked in this:

• With my signature, I would agree to a ban of silence. If I failed to comply, this ban may be enforced. Potentially, this set aside the rule of law.
• The Sea Point precinct, which had criminally charged me without basis, should be “dealt with independently”. The core of the problem was thus quarantined.
• But not really. I should sign that I had “received the necessary confirmation” that all had been in order at Sea Point. But there had been no such confirmation. If I had signed, I could have had all further recourse taken away.
• And Colonel Coetzee himself should “not be included” in investigations into any “misleading statements”. But he himself was involved in misleading statements.

And that wasn't all. So this is how good will suffers shipwreck. I said to my attorney, did you see what they sneaked into the settlement? In his embarrassment, he waived all his fees. It was a lost opportunity. In return for my being the peacemaker – or trying to – I received deceit.