Hundreds of people marched on Wachthuis police headquarters in central Pretoria on Thursday to demand that the fight against crime be stepped up.
Protesting under the banner of the Democratic Alliance, they delivered a memorandum outlining their grievances.
Provincial DA leader John Moodey addressed protesters from the back of a truck in outside Wachthuis, giving examples of police failures.
Police commissioner Riah Phiyega, flanked by a contingent of top officers, listened as he described obstacles making it difficult for police to tackle crime head-on.
“Enough is enough, the reality is that life is cheap in South Africa. Crime is out of control. Murders, hijackings, robberies are happening every minute of the day and the police are nowhere to be seen,” said Moodley.
“We came here with the Van Wyk family van Reigerpark who’s young son was kidnapped from his house and murdered. His body was found four days later. We remember all our fallen friends. Thousands of cases go unsolved which are serious and violent crimes. There is no one in South Africa who at one time or another was not the victim of crime.”
Moodley said many police officers had been caught taking part in crime and he urged the commissioner to screen police recruits properly and fire all officers guilty of misconduct.
“We are living in fear of such police officers, but I also know there are thousands of police officers who have dedicated their lives as professionals.”
Moodley called on the commissioner to ensure that the infrastructure of the police service was beefed up.
Accepting the memorandum, Phiyega said it listed issues police were also worried about.
“They are issues that the 200 000 members of the police wake up to every morning. Combating crime shall never be the work of the police alone. The citizens of this country are here to work with us as police to ensure that we turn crime around,” she said.
“The killing that you talked about is also our brothers and our sisters. We, as the police shall continue to work hard to fight crime. You came here today under the watchful guard of the police. We share your concern about crime.”
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