Call for police action after student ‘raped’ in west
Protesters demand regular police and Tshwane metro police patrols in Philip Nel Park and an establishment of a functional community police forum.
Thousands of disgruntled students and residents of Philip Nel Park marched to the Pretoria West police station on Friday, demanding the police to intensify security in their area.
This came after a female student had allegedly been raped by an unknown man recently.
Dressed in black, students from Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU), Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) as well as concerned community members called for an end to gender-based violence.
Protesting students were mainly those residing at the Tshwane Varsity Lodge situated in the area.
Photo: Ron Sibiya
Speaking at the police station, Tshwane Varsity Lodge residence manager Remofilwe Poeng said a student was robbed of her valuables and raped on Sunday.
“The said student had bought a few items and as she was about to leave the shop, she was confronted by two vicious men who robbed her of her bankcard and dragged her to the nearby bushes on the side of Rebecca Street to rape her,” she said.
Protesters demanded the police and the Tshwane metro police to conduct regular patrols in the area and an establishment of an effective CPF.
“We demand the police to fire all lazy police officers, remove all nyaope and sex workers in our area, ensure our sisters and mothers are safe and arrest all gender-based violence perpetrators.”
They also demanded that the Tshwane metro should clear the bushes in and around the neighbourhood.
The marchers gave the police 72 hours to respond to their demands and warned that they would find “alternative methods” to solve the problem should the police fail to meet the deadline.
Pretoria West police spokesperson Sibongile Vuma confirmed that a rape case had been opened with the police and said it was being handled by a specialised police unit.
Suspects were still at large, police said.
Station commander Colonel Michelle Toohey accepted the memorandum and promised to take action on the demands.
She invited students to join police meetings where a plan to fight crime in the area would be discussed and developed.
The existing CPF structure and the community patrollers would also form part of the meeting, she said.
Attempts to get comments from the CPF were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
