Windscreen washers refute allegations
Kenneth said the SAPS knows who works at the intersection. They arrest them even if they are not at the intersection.
Windscreen washers at the Alum and Albertina Sisulu intersection in Bruma have pleaded innocence with regards to the crime at the intersection.
Thabo Moloi and Kenneth Molefe said they know they are not allowed at the intersection, but they work there because they do not have a choice.
They refute the allegations of increasing crime at the intersection.
“Yes, there used to be smash-and-grabs some time ago, but since we are here it has died down. We work here until 7pm and I have not seen any crime here for a long time,” said Thabo.
Kenneth said the SAPS knows who works at the intersection. They arrest them even if they are not at the intersection.
“Last week Thursday, May 7, both of us and some of the other guys, find a temporal job nearby. We were off-loading a container. As we were busy, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers arrived and started arresting us. Both of us, and the other guys, fled in different directions. The officers concentrated on one guy. As he was approaching the Jukskei stream, they fired two shots. Why? The guy had stolen nothing. What if they killed him? This is just the abuse,” said Kenneth.
Both men said they would leave the intersection if they could find work.
They said they do not force or intimidate motorists to wash their vehicles’ windscreens.
This follows complaints from the SAPS and motorists that the windscreen washers at the intersection intimidate motorists and forcibly wash their vehicles’ windscreens.
Women driving alone are often, allegedly, targeted.
The Cleveland SAPS communications officer, Constable Mpho Mashakane, said there is an ongoing operation conducted by the SAPS and JMPD at the intersection.
She denied that the windscreen washers are arrested even if they are not at the intersection.
“The reason we are having these operations is to remove them from the intersection. We cannot arrest them for not being at the intersection,” she said.
Const Mashakane said the operation will continue until further notice.
