Enough is enough say Elsburg residents

The community of Elsburg is done talking and wants action.

Community members expressed their frustration to Faith Mazibuko, MEC of the Gauteng Department of Community Safety, at a meeting last Friday.

One community member said the SAPS has failed them as a community and they need intervention from the MEC to assist them in fighting crime and drugs in the area.

The community has held a number of meetings centered on the topics of crime and drugs and feels that the meetings are not producing results.

ALSO READ: Reclaiming the streets of Elsburg

“We have had a number of meetings with the police, but we see no action.

“The police are also the problem because some of them are working with the criminals.

“The station commander has failed us as the community because we have these meetings and talk solutions and see no action from the police.

“We think she should be removed from the position because she is not serving the community,” said a community member.

Community members said the issues of drugs and crime have become a problem for them to the point that they don’t feel safe anymore.

One parent said she lives in fear because she has daughters and feels unsafe when they have to go to school.

According to residents the people dealing drugs are known because they held a meeting and they confessed to selling drugs.

They reported the matter to the police, but these criminals are still roaming the streets of Elsburg.

They requested a special forces unit to come and address the matter of people selling drugs because the police are failing to arrest them.

Mazibuko said drug dealers and criminals cannot be roaming the streets of Elsburg freely, making residents feel unsafe.

“A joint task force made up of SAPS, the Gauteng Traffic Police Saturation Unit, CPF, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department and patrollers have been deployed to clean up Elsburg.

“This team will make sure they find all those who are breaking the law,” said Mazibuko.

Furthermore she said street committees need to be formed and more patrollers are needed.

“The CPF and patrollers need to be visible in the morning when children are going to school and again in the afternoon to ensure people going to and coming back from work are safe.

“That way those drug dealers roaming around the streets of Elsburg will be scared and see the community means business.

“We cannot have the community live in fear,” said Mazibuko.

ALSO READ: Drugs a serious concern for Elsburg residents

On the issue of the removal of the station commander because she is not serving the community the MEC said she cannot comment.

“The Department of Community Safety has a mandate to monitor the work of the police.

“The department does not have power over human resource matters of the SAPS,” said Mazibuko.

She urged the community to take action and fight for their community.

“The community also needs to take a stand and say enough is enough,” said Mazibuko.

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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za or Busi Vilakazi (Journalist) busiv@caxton.co.za.

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