Panyaza Lesufi lashes foreigners involved in Gauteng crime

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has vowed to fight immigrants who commit crimes in the province and go unpunished. 

Speaking at a meeting between the provincial government and the private security industry in Sebokeng on Tuesday, Lesufi said crime had got out of hand in Gauteng and required an immediate response to ensure the safety of residents. He said crime had reached levels where residents felt unsafe in the streets and even in their own homes. 

“They get in and rape our women and children and we must squabble among ourselves when criminals are fighting us. Those days are gone. If you are going to fight crime with knobkerries, forget it ... We need firepower to fight these criminals. 

“They must not take advantage of our hospitality. There are people who have left their own countries, they came here, we gave them ubuntu. Instead of them replicating our ubuntu they think they can hold us hostage, sell wrong food to our children, do as they wish, sell drugs to our children. 

“Their time is over in this province. We will stand against them, we will get all the necessary resources and fight them back. We went outside to fight to liberate this country, we are prepared ... to defend this country against criminals.”

Accompanied by community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko, co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Mzi Khumalo and provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela, Lesufi called for the private security industry to partner the government in the fight against crime. 

“We must plan together from the same centre under the command of the SAPS and pull our resources together ... Everything that we have, let us deposit under one unit and face the criminals invading our province.

“We can't have people who close our highways and do a cash in transit heist. We can't have people who make us unable to enjoy our parks because every time we go there we are mugged. We can't enjoy Small Street in the Johannesburg CBD because if you go there you are a target,” Lesufi said. 

The issue of foreign nationals and crime has been a sensitive issue in the province for some time. While organisations such as Operation Dudula have blamed crime on undocumented migrants, the African diaspora argue that migrants are being used as a scapegoat for government's failures.

Outlining the plan, Mazibuko called on private security companies to adopt streets, wards or areas where they are working to partner police and fight crime. 

She said companies can simply identify streets according to their resources and then alert the government of the space that they will guard. 

“The work done by the private security companies will be linked to the police. They will be doing their work within a police precinct,” Mazibuko said. 

Lesufi’s administration has said fighting crime is the number one priority for government. Among the tactics to be employed is touse the 2,600 security companies and 208,000 security guards patrolling the province. 

Ultimately, the Gauteng government wants to leverage the presence of patrol vehicles, CCTV cameras and other technologies to improve response times to crimes.

One security company, Ndugu Armed Response, has started working in communities in Ekurhuleni to improve safety. 

Realising that the company could not compete for tenders for security as it was small, its bosses decided to introduce CCTV cameras in the townships. 

The first was in Sigodi, Daveyton, with cameras installed on the streets and paid for by businesses such as spaza shops and taverns.

Residents along the street can also contribute as little as R100 to get panic buttons which they use to alert a back room office if they spot anything. 

“One problem is that we run our system on solar. If there is no sunshine for 12 hours, most of the cameras start running low on battery,” said Bongani Masilela, manager in technical support at Ndugu Armed Response. 

The company uses its security personnel to respond to any criminality spotted on camera or reported by residents. 

Masilela said last week they had helped recover a stolen Toyota Quantum, which happened to pass by after it was reported stolen via the SAPS system. 

The company also provides support to police during roadblocks. Its services are now in Sigodi in Daveyton, Chief Albert Luthuli Park, Benoni and Etwatwa. 

“Some of the community cannot contribute every month, which is why we want the government to come to the party and maybe cover the cost of installation,” Masilela said. “We want the government to help the disadvantaged community, not necessarily to pay us.”