ANC marches to Rietgat police station
The group gathered in a park in Block KK then proceeded to the police station to hand over a memorandum of demands.
The ANC marched to Rietgat police station in Soshanguve on August 20 to protest crime in the area and hand over its memorandum of demands.
ANC NEC member and Minister of Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu led the protest accompanied by ANC Women’s League regional secretary Gogo Ndlovana and many disgruntled residents.
The group gathered in a park in Block KK then proceeded to the police station singing songs and chanting their demands.
The community made their demands in the memorandum known including ending gender-based violence (GBV), dealing with substance and sexual abuse, increased police visibility around the area, calling for justice in the cases of the previous victims and stopping mass killings/shootings as well as house robberies.
In a post on social media Sisulu aired some of the frustrations of residents: “We are disgusted with the rape, beating and other forms of abuse of women, children, the elderly and the LGBTQIA+ community. We are equally disturbed by cases of gender-based violence perpetrated against women and children.”
Further issues in the memorandum addressed illegal immigration, hijackings and corruption within the police station.
“We are disturbed by the recent hike in the killings within our communities. We believe that these senseless killings do not belong in a democracy nor any society,” Sisulu continued.
Rietgat SAPS station commander Brigadier Molatelo Maphoto received the memorandum of demands on behalf of the station and pledged to work with the community to fight crime in the area.
After receiving and signing the memorandum, the Rietgat SAPS station released a statement saying: “Brigadier Maphoto is committed to reducing and fighting crime together with the community. He further assured the minister that he took an oath and he will make sure that the people of Rietgat are and feel safe at all times.”
The community in return pledged to assist the police to locate and capture the perpetrators of crime.
After the proceedings, the crowd peacefully proceeded to Bodibeng library where Sisulu delivered a Winnie Mandela memorial lecture.
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