The suspension of the Commander of Alexandra Police Station, Brigadier David Mbongeni Ngcobo has come as no surprise to many residents of Alexandra.
The station commander was suspended following a preliminary report from his bosses on the recent shooting inside the Alexandra station. Ngcobo has been what we term in IsiZulu, undabamlonyeni, which means that he has been a hot subject on the lips of many community members. There have been various calls for his resignation from the community and, most notably, from the ANC Youth League Zone 13.
There had been a number of marches organised by the community and the youth league calling for the dismissal of Ngcobo.
Among the gripes of the community against Ngcobo was his alleged failure to reign over his ‘rogue’ police officers, most notably the late Ronnie Masie. The community claims Masie was a rogue officer who had been reported for domestic violence against his wife on numerous occasions. He apparently also kidnapped his children from his wife once, and this had allegedly been reported to the station.
Masie shot his wife, Sowela Anna Nkuna dead at the station two weeks ago while she was reporting him for abuse. He also shot dead a policeman and two relatives who had accompanied her to lay the charge. Masie was later shot dead by members of the Tactical Response Team after he alighted from a taxi on his way home
The community had also complained about Alexandra police members colluding with criminals, poor police visibility within the community and Ngcobo’s poor relations with the community.
I am certain no one will shed a tear for Brigadier Ngcobo.
