Residents demand immediate intervention from Moroka SAPS
Residents conduct a peaceful march to Moroka Police Station, demanding answers on recent murder cases.
Following the gruesome murders of two young women in Phiri and Mapetla, residents came together for a peaceful march from Merafe Hostel to Moroka Police Station on Friday.
Emotions were high as leaders and residents of these communities gathered outside the station chanting songs of liberation.
They came down to deliver their list of grievances to the station commander, Brigadier Shiburi demanding immediate intervention.
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Buhle Zondi, secretary of Ward 16 in Mapetla who was reading the memorandum to Brigadier Shiburi, stipulated that they have about three murder cases in a period of two weeks, where they lost the lives of their sisters and that no suspects have been arrested being questioned.
“We have a four-year child who was burnt in her mother’s shark. A young lady was short dead in Phiri and a 13-year-old innocent girl was raped and killed on Women’s Day near Merafe Hostel. The police are quiet, yet they call themselves dogs but they are toothless dogs,” said Zondi.
Female murder cases are spreading like wild fire in township communities and this has instilled fear to those that witness such brutality.
On the other hand, residents are frustrated at how the SAPS is unable to bring justice and provide safety.
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“Every day we see police officers leaving the hostel with smiley faces because they are collecting bribes from these criminals. They are failing us and we demand justice for our sisters,” shouted one the residents at the march.
In response to the memorandum of demands, Brigadier Shiburi told residents that they should work together in order to fight against criminals and murderers.
“We started a project at Nancefield Hostel, where we have patrollers who work around the clock. The same project we need to implement to clean Merafe Hostel together,” said Brigadier Shiburi, addressing residents.
“We are not supposed to keep quiet when we know who the perpetrators are. We need to join hands and work as a team. I need to increase invisibility in Mapetla and Phiri.”
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Residents gave the station seven days to respond to their grievances with a full report on the above mentioned cases.
