Police minister Bheki Cele held a ministerial crime imbizo in Alex
Alex community seeks intervention from the minister when crime hike leaves them feeling unsafe in the streets.
Minister of Police General Bheki Cele organised the imbizo crime meeting with the community after the horrible shooting that resulted in the deaths of eight people in Alex.
In the meeting were National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola; Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela; Gauteng Commissioner Max Masha; Gauteng MEC for Community Safety Faith Mazibuko and members of the SAPS from Alexandra.
Mawela gave feedback to the community on the results of Operation O Kae Molao and what they had accomplished since the tragic shooting.
“As the minister had announced that we managed to apprehend seven culprits, we have also found out that they have been in possession of an unlicensed firearm and an empty cartridge. Our team of detectives then went out to collect other suspects who are directly linked to the crime committed, and they managed to arrest eight suspects in total, directly linked to the murder incident that happened on the night of July 14 and the early morning of July 15,” he said.
Mawela commended the community for helping them crack these crimes by sharing any information they had with them.
The community was given a platform to convey their grievances to the minister so he can attend to them.
The following were the grievances from the community:
- The community cannot function with only one police station, so the old Wynberg Police Station must be opened, and new police stations must be built in Tsutsmani and River Park.
- They also brought up the issue of illegal immigrants who evict Alex residents from their trading spaces or demand money as rent.
- Some concerns focused on the police station’s slow response to their cases and the scarcity of police vehicles.
- The community also brought up the issue of cruel and dishonest police officers collaborating with drug dealers.
- People believe they get robbed because it is dark and most street lights from 1st to 8th avenues are not working so they urged that at least load-shedding be conducted during the day in Alex.
Cele responded to these grievances and allegations, “Before this meeting we had a meeting with the structures of the community so they can tell us your main issues and almost everything mentioned here was mentioned in the meeting.
“We are here to make sure that we respond to crime and able to react by investigating and finding the criminals.”
Cele promised that the detectives will deal with every case that was brought up in the meeting and make sure they are investigated so that every culprit can be apprehended, including the issue of corrupt police that was raised. He also urged the community not take matters into their own hands. If they catch a culprit they have to hand them over to the police.
On the issue of load-shedding Cele promised to look into the matter.
Cele also promised to bring a team to deal with outstanding cases and to ensure that there are enough police vans visible in the neighborhood.
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