Staff Reporter.
Police Minister Bheki Cele has urged South African Police Service (SAPS) members in the Western Cape to improve their services and boost community-centred policing.
The Minister made the call during two izimbizo in Khayelitsha and Manenberg on Thursday.
The engagements took place against the backdrop of multiple murders in the Endlovini informal settlement. Five people were gunned down in the area on Monday.
In a statement, the Police Ministry said community members did not hold back when voicing their policing concerns. These included slow police response to crime emergencies. Residents also cited the lack of basic services as contributors to the high crime in the area.
Responding, Cele called for the SAPS in the stations concerned to “shape up or ship out”.
“We will not tolerate a culture of non-delivery when it comes to servicing communities, at the same time the problems raised here cut across many other departments even the local municipality.
“It is a fact that dark streets and alleyways without streetlights and houses without numbers impede policing. This is why local government and the SAPS should, and must, work to urgently improve this situation. Resources must be combined to better service these areas. I can assure you that doing this, will go a long way in improving the police’s ability to keep residents safer.”
Following this interaction with Khayelitsha residents, Cele then engaged with the Heideveld and Manenberg communities.
The Ministry said these communities had experienced increased levels of gang-related violence. Last week, 10 people were gunned down in Manenberg in alleged ongoing clashes between rival gang members.
Walking through the neighbourhood of Heideveld and Manenberg, the Minister and the SAPS management in the province listened to some of the grievances raised by the community. The community also offered practical suggestions on how to improve safety through amongst other things, partnering with the police.
The Minister assured residents that the current increased police presence will remain in place until the SAPS is satisfied that safety and stability has been restored to the area.
Additional SAPS officers have been deployed to Manenberg as force multipliers and will add to the Anti- Gang Unit (AGU) members that are stationed in the area, focusing on gang related crimes.
“Police are also making inroads in the daily operations focusing on this area, they have so far arrested over 40 people since the start of the weekend – a total of 23 of these arrests are for murder.
“I also call on this community and the police to continue to improve their working relations. Taking action together will ensure the space for gangs and their criminal ways will be squeezed out and with more boots on the ground, these streets will once again be safe for children to play on,” said Cele.
Meanwhile the circumstances and discussions that led to the mutual agreement on the early termination of former National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole’s contract is not related to the recent crime statistics, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.
He was responding to a question from EFF leader Julius Malema during a question and answer plenary of the National Assembly on Thursday.
“The outgoing National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, General Khehla Sitole, and I had been in communication over some time about matters that led to the mutual agreement on the early termination of his contract,” he said.
Malema had asked the President that, given the reported high levels of crime in the period between 1 October and 31 December 2021, what was the reason that he removed the National Police Commissioner but retained the Police Minister Bheki Cele?
The President said discussions surrounding the tensions between Sitole and Cele, which dominated media reports leading up to this year’s State of the Nation Address, had been playing out for some time.
“These discussions were therefore not related to the crime statistics for October to December 2021, but were instead guided by what would be in the best interests of the country,” he said.