Cape Town – After five people were gunned down in Khayelitsha at the weekend, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced more resources will be deployed to the area during a crime imbizo.
In recent months, Khayelitsha has been the scene of a number of mass shootings.
The imbizo which was hosted by the Khayelitsha Development Forum was attended by Cele, his deputy Cassel Mathale and the management of the South African Police Service (SAPS) led by the National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola.
There was also non-profit organisations (NGOs) councillors, representatives of traditional and religious fraternity, safety experts and stakeholders from the Western Cape province, engage residents on safety and security issues.
Western Cape MEC of community safety and policing oversight, Reagan Allen was also in attendance.
At the imbizo, Cele said resources are being moved from where they are least needed to where they are needed most in the province.
“This is why 80 officers have now been shifted from more affluent areas where crime is under control or in some instances non-existent and moved to high priority stations such as Khayelitsha. We believe this shift will assist heavily in proactive and reactive policing,” he said.
Cele said the assistance from community patrollers, community policing forums (CPFs) and neighbourhood watches needed to be ramped up urgently.
“It doesn’t make sense why these foot soldiers must use their own airtime and own resources to help fight crime. It simply can’t be the norm and this is why I have called on the National Commissioner to look at funding these structures so they can be effective in their work,” Cele said.
Allen has committed to providing the much-needed resources to the community policing structures.
“We won’t be able to make this province safer without the neighbourhood watches, community patrollers and other community structures that play an active role in safeguarding their communities, even with the little they have… as local government we are committing ourselves to ramp up our support by providing extra reflective jackets and boots used during patrolling, we believe this will go a long way in the everyday work of these community structures,” he said.
Masemola outlined plans to build an additional police station in Makhaza, he said construction is set to begin in November.
Those at the imbizo also heard the provision of stipends for community policing structures across the country, is under consideration by police management and other concerned stakeholders.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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