Zandpruit community protests against women and children violence

HONEYDEW – Protesters blocked Beyers Naude Drive on 19 September.

September 21, 2018

Reuven Blignault 1 minute read

A Zandspruit woman holds up a sign saying 'STOP Killing US!!' in a protest in Honeydew on 19 September.

Protesting Zandspruit community members blocked Beyers Naude Drive as they marched to Honeydew Police Station on 19 September.

The protest sought to address violence against women and children in the community and unfair treatment by the police.

A heavy police presence was seen during the protest, but police on the scene confirmed that no incidents of violence had been reported and the protest remained peaceful.

Men hold up a sign asking for ‘No bail to rapists, no bail to drug dealers’ from the police in a protest in Honeydew on 19 September.

A large crowd blocks Beyers Naude Drive in a protest in Honeydew on 19 September.

Community leader and head of safety Kenneth Lekalakala said, “The march is to raise awareness about the numerous people who have been raped and killed in Zandspruit. Women are not safe anymore, and they cannot walk alone anywhere during the day or night.

“There is a scourge of people selling ‘Nyaope’ and other drugs, and we don’t want those people in Zandspruit. Our kids smoke these drugs and they end up committing crime and killing each other.

“The police must remember that we are sick and tired of these people in our communities. We do not see the police, and even if someone is arrested we see them on the street again a few days later.”

Lekalakala concluded, “We need city officials to come and see what is happening in Zandspruit. We are the eyes and ears of the police. We are the ones who report crimes, as any citizen should, and our voices need to be heard.”

A man holds up a sign saying ‘We demand service and protection’ from the police in a protest in Honeydew on 19 September.

Women sit on the usually busy Beyers Naude Drive with signs protesting abuse against woman and children in Zandpruit on 19 September.

Protesters demanded that the memorandum be handed over to the City of Joburg’s MEC for public safety and the station commander of the Honeydew Police Station.

Honeydew police’s spokesperson Captain Bulan Muthan said, “A memorandum was handed over to a representative from the department of community safety and the police.

We will look at the memorandum, and from there, management will see whether the community or the police are at fault, and what problems there may be. Where the problems lie, they will be rectified.”