A member of a Section 79 committee says communities are reluctant to help due to police's lack of accountability.
The crisis of youth being lost to violence is forcing police and communities to grapple with questions of trust and responsibility.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola was at Sophiatown police station on Wednesday morning for an update on the situation surrounding the shooting of seven teenagers in Westbury.
Police are asking for more assistance from communities in dealing with gang-related crime, while politicians and community leaders say a different approach is necessary.
Four Westbury suspects wanted
Masemola said on Wednesday a hunt is on for four teenage suspects allegedly involved in the murders of two teenagers. Five injured teens are still in hospital.
He said he could not circulate photos of the boys at they are all minors, but had a warning for the suspects.
“The four teenage boys – you know who you are, we are looking for you, but we are also encouraging you to hand yourselves over,” said the national police commissioner.
The commissioner said the victims were shot outside a ‘lolly lounge’ – a house where teenagers go to take drugs.
“I have instructed the provincial commissioner of Gauteng to deal decisively with these lolly lounges where these children in all these hotspot areas go while bunking school.
“We are coming after the owners of these houses and those that are supplying the drugs,” said Masemola.
Police were also investigating the sources of the firearms, with Masemola saying adults were recruiting youths for gang activities.
“We are indeed focusing on these handlers and surely we will find them and make them answer as to why they are destroying the future of these young children,” said Masemola.
‘Communities shielding gangsters’
Masemola highlighted the recent success of the anti-gang unit saying 176 arrests had been made between June and September.
The arrests included 21 for murder, 11 for attempted murder and 94 for drug-related crimes, while confiscated contraband included 26 firearms, two stolen cars, 10 000 grams of mandrax and 480 grams methcathinone.
The commissioner said that the unit’s work could be greatly aided by communities who were reluctant to share information and even prevented officers from arresting suspects on gang-related charges.
“We find that some community members – not all, some community members – are shielding gangsters,” Masemola said.
“One of the challenges in this specific community is that people do not come forward as witnesses. If you were there when a crime is being committed, you are not a whistle-blower or informer, you are a witness, you have seen what happened. So you must be prepared to go court to court and give evidence,” he said.
‘Legitimacy and accountability’
Chair of the Johannesburg city council’s Section 79 committee on gender, youth and people with disabilities Yongama Zigebe said he was outraged at the violence being committed by children.
“These are not isolated incidents. They are the visible wounds of a system that has lost control over illegal firearms, failed to dismantle gangs and neglected to restore community confidence in law enforcement,” he said.
On Masemola’s claim that communities were uncooperative, Zigebe said it was symptomatic of a police service that has lost “legitimacy and accountability” in the eyes of citizens.
“When communities no longer believe that reporting criminals will lead to justice, criminal syndicates gain strength while honest citizens retreat in fear,” said Zigebe.
“It is unacceptable that our schools have become recruiting grounds and our streets a battlefield for minors doing the bidding of adult gangsters,” he added.
Communities urged to stand up
Community activist Curt van Heerden took to his Facebook platform to address the shooting, saying the community had been desensitised to such violence.
He urged community leaders and institutions to stand up to ensure that the youth in these communities are shown they were valued.
“We can’t afford to lose another generation while we’re busy arguing about who is to blame. We need to reach the places where pain is coming from,” said Van Heerden.
“This is not about crime, this is about neglect. It’s about hopelessness, it’s about a system that has and continues to fail our children,” he added.
He cautioned the grieving community about seeking in politicians, urging parents and guardians to embrace their role in taking responsibility for the lives of their children.
“Tonight, as we mourn, let’s also decide that the graveyards will not be the place that holds the greatest potential. We must be the people that saves the lives of our children,” Van Heerden said.
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