Communities complain about lack of visibility of amapanyaza in townships

Critics are still not impressed with Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s new crime-busting unit, with residents from across the province calling for more recruits in townships, while others say money should be invested in the South African Police Service.

Still others, however, say the unit should be given more time. Residents in some of Gauteng’s crime hot-spot areas have complained with the lack of visibility of amapanyaza in townships, especially Honeydew and GaRankuwa, while residents in Mabopane, Soshanguve and Rosslyn in north of Pretoria call for more recruits.

Amapanyaza’s visibility questioned

Honeydew resident Joe Motsepe said crime was still a major issue in the area.

“Since this place was marked a crime hot spot, I thought we would see amapanyaza here, but I’ve only ever seen them in Germiston.”

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But another resident, Daphney Ntuli, said the unit had just been deployed and people should be more patient.

“We are all frustrated with the crime here,” she said. “We keep asking this about 6 000 people, while we are failing to ask where the police are.”

Mabopane resident Lebogang Sebope applauded the unit and said pupils were safer now because of amapanyaza. Their presence had sent shock waves around the area, with most criminals laying low.

“I cannot tell you how grateful we are to see them on the streets, especially here because cellphone snatching was starting to be a norm,” Sebope said.

“Even older people are starting to feel a little safe going to the shops during the day because that’s when they were most targeted by criminals.”

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She also hoped the recruiting process would be expanded in order to tackle more areas.

“They are doing a much better job than the police have done for the past 10 years. They are not waiting for crime to happen, they kind of prevent it,” she added.

Experience

Meanwhile, the unit has come under a lot of fire since it deployed, with many people questioning their experience and saying they were ill-equipped, while some residents claimed they would not recognise them.

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The Gauteng department of community safety, however, reassured Gauteng citizens that the newly appointed crime prevention wardens were capable of keeping the province safe.

“The wardens have undergone intensive training to ensure that they can perform their duties effectively and efficiently,” the department’s spokesperson, Hlulani Mashaba, said.

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za