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Local police stations are under-resourced – Vanderbijlpark residents tell Cele
Meanwhile, Cele reiterated his stance that police officers need to defend themselves when confronted with life-threatening situations.
Police Minister Bheki Cele speaks during a parade at Innesfree Park in Sandton on 21 August 2023. Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
Police Minister Bheki Cele has urged to address crime in some parts of the Vaal region in Gauteng by improving police visibility and providing resources to local police stations.
On Friday, Cele, together with national police commissioner Fannie Masemola and South African Police Service (Saps) officials, attended an imbizo at the Marikana informal settlement in Vanderbijlpark to engage residents about their safety concerns.
Residents share complaints
One resident told the police top brass that police stations in parts of the Vaal area were under-resourced.
“The turnaround time when we report incidents to the police is late to an extent that we, as Sedibeng residents, always feel like we are not being protected compared to other region.
“We see police vehicles being deployed to those regions and police visibility is increased. We are requesting to the minister to make sure that our police stations are well-resourced.”
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Another resident asked Cele to assist residents in addressing unemployment through community policing.
“I see patrollers my age and I also want to be a part of that in order to help the community.”
Community members also raised their concern about the high consumption of alcohol, which has been blamed as a leading driver of crime in the area.
Police Ministry spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba stated that there were 260 shebeens in the area.
‘Police will come out on top’
Earlier, Cele reiterated his stance that police officers need to defend themselves when confronted with life-threatening situations.
“[If one has] a firearm, it’s for one purpose only, and it’s to commit crime. The police work on the information [at their disposal], and as they go there, they must approach with caution.
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“Anybody that shoots at the police as they come, there is only one language the police will use, and it’s to shoot back. The only thing I will promise criminals when they shoot at the police, the police will come out on top.
“There’s this accusation that we are trigger happy and we don’t want to arrest [criminals]. We do want to arrest [them and] that’s why six guys who killed a young man were not shot. They were all arrested.”
Teacher fatally shot
Last week, a 33-year-old woman was shot and killed in Vanderbijlpark.
According to the police, the Riverside High School teacher was shot while waiting at a traffic light when suspects who were driving a Honda FRV ambushed her.
Officers responded to a complaint of a shooting incident on Hendrik van Eck Boulevard.
On their arrival at the scene, the police found the woman, who was in the driver’s seat of a Nissan NP200 bakkie, with multiple bullet wounds on her body.
She was certified dead on the scene.
Four suspects, including her ex-husband, have been arrested in connection with the murder.
The police also recovered a firearm and seized the vehicle allegedly used during the commission of the crime.
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