We did our job at Global Citizen Festival – JMPD

Traumatised victims of the “war zone” that happened after the Global Citizen Festival about two weeks ago all sang the same tune about how there was no police visibility as the vicious criminality was taking place.

However, yesterday the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) insisted they did what was expected of them on the day and that everything went according to plan.

Festival visitors took to social media to share their horrific experiences of how the FNB Stadium precinct became a “war zone” – brazen robberies, traffic chaos, and lack of public transport outside the host venue – after the event came to a close just before midnight.

A group of men were reportedly attacking people and stole their belongings using knives and guns. The injuries included stab wounds and a broken nose while many were mugged of their cellphones and other belongings and young women waiting at a nearby Sasol garage were harassed.

At yesterday’s presentation of its monthly Operation Buya Mthetho (bring back the law) statistics, JMPD chief of police David Tembe said his force was given three specific tasks by their city superiors, which were to manage the flow of traffic, ensure that they covered the 43 points allocated to them, and prevent crime.

“What happened was that immediately when it happened, I had my officers at corners of Rand Show and Nasrec roads. They [JMPD officers] immediately ran there [at the garage] and arrested seven and those seven are still behind bars now,” said Tembe.

“So we did what we were expected to do. There were no fatalities on the roads and everything worked well according to plan.”

In light of the event, the JMPD said that arrests for drunk driving rose from 691 in October to 821 in November.

They also announced that the other top six criminal offences included public violence, undocumented persons, stolen motor vehicles, reckless and negligent driving, and drugs.

City of Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba said the reason he took the decision to release the statistics every month was to give residents an indication on where the crime patterns and problem areas were.

He said the ultimate goal for the city was to make life difficult and unbearable for criminals so that they were left with no choice but to run elsewhere.

“As a city, we will continue to do all that is within our power to ensure that we create safe and connected communities throughout Johannesburg,” he said. “Alongside this, we will continue to work with our law enforcement authorities to see that where arrests are made by the JMPD, these cases are not only investigated but properly prosecuted by law enforcement authorities.

– jenniffero@citizen.co.za

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