Despite safety concerns, the MEC of Community Safety in Gauteng Faith Mazibuko says some of the 6000 provincial peace wardens or MaPanya-Panya as they have been affectionately called, will be trained to handle rifles and other weapons.
Mazibuko was speaking at the funeral service of Bafana Sithole, a peace warden from Bekkersdal, who died in a shack fire last Monday.
The circumstances around Sitholes’s death were unclear, but the provincial government said he died in an accidental fire which may have been caused by load shedding.
“Our training is ongoing we will teach you how to carry guns; some we will train how to carry rifles. Zama Zama will go and Zama Zama at Kuvukiland. If you came here and you are a coward and you are passing time with us go and sit at home. We want brave men and women because our community members are in distress,” Mazibuko said.
Mazibuko encouraged the peace wardens not to take bribes. She said their role was to be outstanding members of the community and solve problems where they lived.
“We are going to place body cams on you so that you do not do what others are doing, you are not here to abuse our communities by asking for Nando’s monies,” Mazibuko said.
There had been complaints about the safety of the peace wardens. It had been alleged that police were now sending the young peace wardens into raids and other dangerous situations. But Mazibuko told the wardens to step up to the challenge and face criminals “toe to toe”.
“If some of you think that this is a job, this is not a job you must get out if you think this is a job. You joined these wardens because you wanted to protect the community if you joined for any other wrong reason bugger off. We are here to fight criminals toe to toe. We are here to make criminals feel (un)safe,” she said.
The provincial government said it was investing in technology to fight crime with helicopters, drones and panic buttons for homes. The green beans were expected to respond to the panic alarms in people’s homes.
“As the provincial government, we will also be rolling out e-panic buttons so that each house must have a panic button when you press the panic button the green beans will respond,” she said.
Meanwhile, during the funeral service Moses Sithole, an uncle to the deceased Mapanya-Panya member told the community that he had doubts that his nephew died in an accident.
He alluded to the fire being intentionally started to kill his nephew.
“I shiver when I think about the manner this boy died, shacks burn but his did not burn in an ordinary manner. God knows what happened. Those who did this God will see them. We know when we live we die because of the story of Abel and Cain,” Sithole said.
Sithole said Bafana had been working with the community safety department for five months. He told the peace wardens gathered at the funeral to unite and become one body.
A police officer from the Bekkersdal police station who spoke at the funeral applauded the green beans for becoming proactive in fighting crime in the area. She said since the intervention of the green beans a number of firearms and other weapons had been seized and encouraged them to keep up the good work.