As October was Breast Cancer Month, the Speaker of Council for the City of Joburg (CoJ), Clr Connie Bapela, encouraged women to go for check-ups regularly to ensure early detection.
At the recent CoJ council meeting, Clr Bapela also called for a minute of silence for the victims of the Rhodes Park double murder and rape, for the police officers killed in recent incidents.
“We condemn this barbaric act with the strongest of words,” said Clr Bapela.
Councillors also demonstrated outside the council chambers against the police killings, and carried a variety of placards with messages calling for an end to the killings.
In her address, Clr Bapela said the brutal Rhodes Park attack had shocked many people.
“We welcome the urgency demonstrated by the executive mayor, Clr Parks Tau, to deal with the matter by convening an urgent mayoral committee meeting following this incident.
“We are further encouraged by the setting up of a collaborative security plan to be immediately activated at Rhodes Park and applied to all the city’s recreational facilities,” said Clr Bapela.
She described the police killings as, “A sore wound that should not be allowed to fester”.
“We should be concerned about the apparent apathy about police killings. The media, as all of us, have an enormous responsibility to raise awareness about the killing of police officers.
“The public needs to be educated about the complex environment of policing. The killing of police should be considered absolutely unacceptable and an affront to the people, the state and our democracy. We need all law abiding South Africans to take charge and defend our police,” said Clr Bapela.
