Africa-Press – South-Africa. Westbury residents were left unimpressed by Police Minister Bheki Cele following his visit to the Johannesburg suburb on Thursday morning.
Cele and police top brass, including acting national commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili and provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela – received an assessment of the crime levels in Westbury and surrounds at the Sophiatown police station.
Westbury has been marked by violence and shootings in recent weeks.
Cele’s visit comes after tensions reached a boiling point.
He told the media the police had put “temporary measures” in place and would return to the area next week to see if their plans had worked.
“We have spoken to the community, they have briefed us, and there are issues that they have raised. We have come [up] with a mini programme that will be unfolding starting from today.
“We might be back on Tuesday to see the unfolding of that and where we can say more about the programme we have just crafted.”
In 2018, Cele permanently deployed the Tactical Response Team (TRT) to the Westbury policing precinct as part of a broader strategy to fight the scourge of drugs and gang-related violence in the area.
His visit to the area in 2018 followed violent protests after a 45-year-old woman was shot dead and a 10-year-old girl wounded.
On Thursday, Cele conceded they should have deployed more police units in 2018 to stabilise the situation.
“This community deserves better than what is happening at the present moment. We will be spending some time in this community going forward and sustain whatever peace we have achieved.
“We fully agree that the boots on the ground will definitely increase.”
But not everyone was happy with Cele’s visit on Thursday.
Residents, who gathered outside the police station, questioned why the minister was not addressing them.
PR councillor in the City of Johannesburg Ronald Winston Harris said he was uninspired by Cele’s promises.
“He took over a message that he brought here in 2018 when he came to make great promises when he came here with his horses and vehicles. He made the same promises he is making today and absolutely nothing has changed.
“There is an absolute failure of government here.
“This message has just been a PR exercise because there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that this community can take from it to say that they are inspired and that they want to work with the police.
“Now we can only say how is that we are going to dodge bullets,” Harris added.
Magdalene van Rooyen, who is part of the local community policing forum in the area, told News24 they were invited to the meeting with Cele but were given a different time slot.
“We are very disappointed, because we were given a time of 09:30, but the meeting actually started at 08:30, which completely excluded us.
“The biggest problem in Westbury is that the community and the police are not getting along. People have no trust in the police. How are we supposed to restore that trust if we are excluded from meetings?
“We stood right in front of him, and he didn’t even acknowledge us,” she said.
The ongoing drug turf wars have instilled fear in residents, with many saying they became targets if they spoke out.
Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko said she had asked Cele to establish a forum where the police would receive anonymous information from the community.
“It is something that is concerning, but we wish to reassure members of the community that if you share information that, you must trust the police, [because] they will keep that information as confidential because they will not divulge who you are,” Mazibuko added.
But a resident, who asked not to be named, told News24 the police could not be trusted.
“What can they [police] do? A guy gets arrested today and is back on the streets two days later. What is the use?
“If you have information, then you become the next victim. It is just a load of crap and nothing new because the minister, the president [Cyril Ramaphosa], and even Crime Intelligence can’t end it.
“If Jesus Christ comes, maybe He can end it all,” the man said.
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