Members of the Community Police Forum (CPF), Alexandra SAPS, and the Metro police invited the public to the imbizo meeting on July 13 where they shared tips on how to mobilise against crime in the community.
CPF chairperson Floyd Makhathini reviewed the crime hotspots in the community, which he identified as from 1st to 8th Avenue. He also urged people to be vigilant when travelling around these areas.
“This meeting is a preparation for our next imbizo meeting. We discussed what affects the community and people in the community and listened to their grievances. We will review them as a forum and as the police in our meetings and come back with solutions in our next imbizo meeting.”
Makhathini added that like everyone else, he is aware of the crime hike in the community. “We urge the community to work with us[CPF] and the police to patrol the streets of Alex, and while at it, we would like to condemn mob justice as it is also a crime to take matters into our own hands.”
During the questions session with the community, their grievances included the slow response from the police. They also mentioned that they see the police vans driving around in the streets but when they call to report a crime they are told there are no police vans available at the station. The community believes the hike in crime is caused by the ignorance of the police.
Alexandra Police Station Commander Brigadier Lindiwe Magudulela said, “I really hope this won’t be a once-off meeting – let it be our monthly meeting with all the leaders of Alex. Going forward, I want the community leaders to communicate with us [police and CPF] on time when they plan their operations so we don’t clash and can work together.
“We usually have our meetings on Mondays at 12:00 so we would appreciate if we get informed of the operations as early as before Monday so we can also prepare and make sure vans are available.”
Magudulela said her main concern is the issue at 8th Avenue and Rooth Street, as it has been a hotspot area for a very long time. “We need to work together and deal with the issue in that area because the number of murders and street robberies in that area is very high.”
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