Police say #NotoXenophobia
FOURWAYS – A press conference was called by Brigadier Wayne Sirkhot, acting cluster Commander for Honeydew Police Station, in order for him to report on the current state of xenophobia within the cluster which consists of Douglasdale, Diepsloot, Honeydew, Randburg, Roodepoort and Florida police stations.
The meeting was held on 24 April at the Honeydew police headquarters and also present was Douglasdale Community Policing Board chairperson Jean Berdou.
Regarding the recent outbreak of xenophobia in parts of South Africa, including a murder in Jeppestown and raids in Alexandra, Sirkhot was relieved to announce that no serious incidents have been reported throughout the cluster. This has not changed their stance against racial violence, however, and he reassured the northern Joburg community that their whole cluster has a strong contingency plan in place to deal with any situation that may arise.
“We need to make a clear statement about what is really happening, because I feel there are a lot of wrong messages being sent out to our communities and many people are inciting violence on social media platforms. On behalf of the Honeydew cluster, I want to congratulate our community. In this whole cluster, we have not had one incident of xenophobia. To us, that speaks a lot about how responsible our communities are … We are so proud of how our communities have behaved, they really show true humanity. They really showed that in a time of crisis, they still have integrity.”
Berdou of the policing board agreed with Sirkhot and also added that the meeting was called to place the concerns made apparent by community members regarding xenophobia and related criminal activity into the public domain.
“The vast majority of our communities is completely against any criminal act against any person, be they a visitor or a South African citizen,” said Berdou. “We strongly urge commitment to the rule of law by any who have a grievance. It must be clear that any behaviour that places the safety of another in danger is unacceptable.
“We stand with our national police Commissioner Riah Phiyega and our government, who has called on all people to act within the law and to treat everyone with mutual respect. Community members are encouraged to make donations to all victim support units at every station, which will be handed to those affected by recent challenges.”
Items desperately needed include:
- Clothing, including children’s and infant clothing
- Non-perishable food items
- Blankets
- Toiletries
- Infant feed and nappies
If any information on donations are required, residents can phone Warrant Officer Balan Muthan of Douglasdale Police Station on 082 323 9797 or Warrant Officer Daniel Mavimbela of Diepsloot Police Station on 082 818 9390.
Loving thy neighbour, all fair and well, but what are you doing to bring your immediate communities together? Let us know by sending an e-mail to fourwaysr@caxton.co.za
