South African Police Ministry engages with Mariannhill community
Operation Shanela, an aggressive policing intervention, is working with the Mariannhill community as it's one of the highest crime areas in the country.
THE Mariannhill community is one of the communities where the Police Ministry is hosting an Imbizo (gathering) to engage the community about their safety concerns. This week, Police Minister General Bheki Cele, together with the management of the South African Police Service (SAPS), led by National Commissioner Fannie Masemola, will meet with community members in some of the country’s high crime areas. Mariannhill is the first of the three communities that the Police Ministry will be engaging with throughout the country.
This comes a week after Cele met briefly with the community of Desai in Mariannhill where nine suspects were killed in a shoot-out with the police. The gathering today (Thursday, April 11) at the Dassenhoek Community Hall marks one of the first stops of Operation Shanela.
Also read: Police minister visits Mariannhill community
“As part of ongoing efforts to flush out criminality through the aggressive policing intervention, Operation Shanela, which has seen the arrest of over 500 000 suspects, the Police Ministry is turning its focus on improving community policing through fostering relations between communities and the police,” reported the South African Police Ministry.
The meeting is underway as community members come out in their numbers. More details are to follow as this is a developing story.
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