Wentworth residents furious as police present no game plan to root out gang violence and corruption

RESIDENTS who gathered at the Wentworth police station on February 5, vowed to shut it down if their concerns are not addressed and gang violence and corruption was not effectively addressed.

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Frustrations were high when concerned residents met with station commander of the Wentworth police station, Colonel Sinayo Mtshali, clad in her casual wear as she calmly addressed the angry crowd and gave no positive feedback to their demands, which were handed to her in a memorandum over two weeks ago, despite continuous shooting and murders.

WATCH: Furious residents engage with station commander of Wentworth police station

Community leaders and family members of those directly affected by the ongoing drug turf war engaged with Mtshali, who thanked the community for being concerned about crime in the area, but the meeting was soon disrupted with outcries from the crowd after Mtshali announced that minister of police, Bheki Cele, was not reachable and won’t be visiting Wentworth.

“In terms of the request of the minister, this cannot be done at station level. The memorandum was sent to the relevant departments and will be escalated to provincial and national level, but we have no mandate to call the minister.

“A provincial task force cannot be summoned at station level. I have enquired and there was an intervention brought to the station, last year. The intervention had a time frame and once that time frame was over, there would be a review if the problem persists.

“The task force cannot be stationed in one place as the whole province has problems, but provincial police will look into it. There is a group of metro police officers working with SAPS and an anti gang unit also works in the area. I have requested assistance with manpower as the station does not have enough manpower. Eleven new constables, who were deployed to our station in January, are here for training. This will supplement the shortage, but is still not enough, as we police Wentworth and Merebank,” said Mtshali.

The crowd became agitated when Mtshali spoke of investigations into corruption and urged residents to come forward with information on corrupt police officers.

“Ever since I came here, there were no reports of corruption. There are cases that are being investigated prior to my appointment,” Mtshali added.

Community leader, David Usher said, “We are tired of corruption. This station is full of corrupt police officers. The corrupt police officers stay here. Station commanders come and go. And our children are dying. When there is a raid, the same police officers from this station give tip-offs to the drug dealers. We demand action. We can not keep giving information when nothing is done. Corrupt police officers delete surveillance footage provided to them and evidence is tampered with. Clean the police station up first. That is where you start. We are tired of excuses.”

Celeste King, chairperson of eThekwini South Youth in Business, who handed the memorandum to Mtshali on January 11, said residents have vowed to join to end the violence and bloodshed.

“We want police to declare a state of emergency in Wentworth. We don’t want to hear about protocols. Children are dying. We will shut down the police station. We will lock down Wentworth and burn tyres, or do what it takes to get the attention of the higher authorities. If it means we get shot and killed, then so shall it be. This is our community. We are tired of hiding from gunshots and burying young children. We will announce the date of the shutdown once we mobilise,” said King.

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