All role players, including SAPS, CPF, EMPD, patrollers, traffic wardens, church members as well as community members gathered at Vosloorus Stadium at 9am and marched to Vosloorus Police Station to hand over the memorandum to the Vosloorus station commander, Brig Themba Denge.
Communications official at Vosloorus Police Station, Capt Piet Rossouw, said they wanted to get the community members together to help fight against crime.
“I am very glad that all the role players we were expecting to come did come,” said Rossouw.
Wiseman Langa, CPF projects coordinator, said, “We had to mobilise the community to support the police as they work under difficult conditions in their fight against crime.
“House break-ins are a problem. They negatively affect township’s economy. It takes only a few minutes for the criminals to break in and take what we worked hard for.
“Once they break in, they don’t leave the house without taking anything. They target plasma TVs, phones and all the other expensive things in your house,” said Langa.
Sbongile Mpungose, deputy chairperson of CPF, handed the memorandum to the station commander on behalf of the community.
She said crime affects everyone in Vosloorus.
“We can only defeat crime if we have a positive attitude. Police alone won’t be able to reduce crime. They need support from the community,” Mpungose said.
Denge said it is important to have the CPF in each and every police station.
“In our police station CPF members understand the importance of fighting against crime. We will do our best to make sure that you as the community are safe, but please work with us. Report every criminal activity you are aware of.
“We have worked with the media to fight bank-following crimes. We no longer have that crime. It means working together can help to minimise crime,” said Denge.
Denge said cases of rape, assault, hijacking and robbery are on the rise in Vosloorus, especially in March.
Denge said, “If people are positive about something they always come up with solutions to the problems.
“We can come up with solutions to the crimes that are on the rise.”
The crime awareness campaign didn’t end with the handing over of the memorandum at Vosloorus Police Station. A meeting also took place later in Extension Eight.
Demands highlighted in the memorandum were as follows:
· Lack of resources and manpower are crucial to the success of the fight against crime and must be provided with immediate effect.
· Management must ensure that bribery allegations involving the police are investigated and eradicated.
· Action must be taken against those who withdraw dockets.
· Community members are tired of being bullied by police officers who deliberately do not identify themselves while on duty, and especially when wearing bullet-proofs vests.
· Better conviction rate and a justice system that protects the victim and witness, not the criminal, must to be implemented.
· That SAPS must facilitate the process of establishing more street committees, to patrol the streets.
· Action must be taken against veterans who do not operate within the law.
· Serious intervention is needed to stop the drug lords from freely supplying nyaope and drugs, which are destroying the youth and the community.
The community members also said they applaud the work done by committed police officers and will support SAPS in the fight against crime. They stated that they have been quiet for a long time and will no longer allow criminals to steal their hard-earned belongings and hurt their relatives, friends and neighbours. They reiterated that we will stop at nothing to help the police convict criminals and provide them with information.
The memorandum also included the following:
· It’s clear from the vision and mission of SAPS that Vosloorus SAPS is not upholding Sec 205 of the Constitution, namely
*Preventing, combating and investigating crime.
*Maintaining public order.
*Protecting and securing the inhabitants of SA and their property and
*Upholding and enforcing the law.
“We urge the station commander, cluster commander and provincial commander to meet our demands in order to improve service delivery in the area for which they are responsible. As community members we declare our support of our police in the fight against crime. We will do our utmost best to identify criminals and crime hot spots and jointly with SAPS develop a programme to educate our communities about such crimes,” the memorandum read.
In response Denge said the police are doing their best to uphold Sec 205 of the constitution.
“In some cases communities need to come to the party and help the police to solve some of the the crimes because criminals are part of the community. And community members know them but they don’t report them,” said Denge.
