Police minister Bheki Cele has vowed to go ‘toe-to-toe’ with criminals in gang-ridden Westbury as frustrated and anguished residents urged the minister and various departments to hear their cries for help.
Cele was addressing residents at a ministerial crime prevention imbizo at the Westbury recreational hall on Tuesday morning.
The community engagement saw residents in and around the Sophiatown policing area engage with Cele, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko and top police brass.
Cele visited the area last week after a wave of violence in Westbury claimed two lives and left 11 injured. He announced the launch of a “mini-programme” to tackle the issues plaguing the gang-ridden area, including a plan to deal with gun violence.
Tuesday’s meeting focused on the broader plan police and other stakeholders are working on to tackle the social issues plaguing the community.
Things got off to a heated start when Sophiatown community policing forum chairperson Gus Malgas was shouted down by residents as he tried to speak before engagements got under way.
Residents took exception to Malgas’s tone towards the residents.
They then took turns at the podium sharing their personal experiences and frustration with life in the gang-infested community.
Most spoke of feeling marginalised and forgotten by leaders over the years. They were at pains to urge the panel to listen to their cries and help resolve the long-standing issues.
Noeline Oakes, whose son was gunned down last year in November, tore into Mazibuko over her department’s failure to fulfill the promises made in 2018.
“Today you’re here again and unapologetic ... The panel that’s sitting here today, I’m so sorry to say I don’t have faith in you. You’ve failed us dismally,” she said to applause.
“I’m one of the people that lost my son. I was in Shoprite when my son was laying there. And then y’all come sit here and lie to our people, every time you lie and people believe you. We are marginalised, you don’t care about coloureds, plain and simple,” a tearful Oakes said.
Her son, Severianno, had a promising future as a coach before his death.
A frustrated community member brought home the effect of gang violence on the community, asking residents who had lost their children to gun violence to stand up. Scores stood up across the packed hall, in a scene that moved Cele when he finally addressed residents.
Another fiery speech that roused applause and touched the minister was from Melissa Davids, who painfully shared the struggles residents faced and the hopelessness they feel at being overlooked for any opportunities that come up.
“Does [sic] coloured lives matter? ... Our people are fighting, they are crying, but are we really heard? Guys, I don't feel like leaving this microphone, I want you guys to hear us please. We are so humble and hungry that I go on my knees and ask you to even just bring EPWP [extended public works programme] to our community so that our children can be part of safety and security,” she cried to cheers and much clapping.
“They want to work, I promise you that. They want to do activities.”
Cele assured residents their concerns and pleas had been heard. He outlined the plans set in motion and to be effected immediately in the area.
“We have brought special forces here, TRT [tactical response team], NIU [national intervention unit] and other units from outside. We will enhance our operations here,” he said.
“The instruction is clear with those police, you don’t drive around here, you walk around here. Help us as you walk around. People here are not killed by knobkerries, they are shot. Get us those illegal firearms,” he stressed.
Tackling the request to shut off the area, Cele said that wouldn’t be necessary because police would “get in every house here” and “walk every corner of the street” while also “dealing with corrupt police”.
This will be done through the secretariat, a department within SAPS focused on dealing with community complaints against the police, as well as Ipid.
The minister also responded to criticism aimed at the police’s focus on arresting addicts rather than the kingpins wreaking havoc in the community. He also addressed the complaints about the many unsolved cases, saying a team of detectives would be brought in to work on these.
“From today, you will feel that they are here. I’ve instructed them to not be seen but to be felt. They must create an environment where you walk tall knowing very well that there is no criminal that will harm and hurt you because they [police] are there,” he told police.
“We are going toe-to-toe, it will be a pound for pound for criminals. And I can assure you, when the dust settles, we’ll be winners.”
Lesufi, meanwhile, remained tight-lipped when he addressed residents before Cele’s speech, saying his government would no longer talk but rather act to root out crime in the area.
“The time of talking is over, we need to act. I don’t want to stand here to add to promises, I don’t want to stand here and explain plans that can be heard by any other person, including criminals.
“I want to assure you the government, that I have the honour to lead in this province, has identified crime as enemy number one and has spared no resources to ensure that we unleash those resources to hunt, get criminals and ensure our province is peaceful,” he said.
Lesufi would not be pressed into elaborating on the plans developed or interventions put in place since 2018, merely saying they had heeded Cele’s call to support the police and develop lasting solutions to the issues in the area.
These extended beyond crime and included education, social development and human settlements.
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