VIDEOS: ‘Peace’ is the way forward for the Westbury community
"self-love will lead to loving others," MEC of Community Safety Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane.
A peace and prayer rally was held at the Westbury Open Sports Field on September 8. The rally was organised by the Westbury stakeholders which included civil society, religious groups, business, ward councillors and principal forums in partnerships with affected townships from Greater Gauteng in conjunction with the MEC of Community Safety Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, Provincial and National government.
Mark Trimble who is the chairperson of the Westbury Stakeholders Committee said: “For years, we had people protesting against violence, crime and various issues that are affecting our community.
“We’ve had unsuccessful debates and trying to get our communities who fall under the Sophiatown precinct together. We realised that we need to reinvent the wheel so we have decided that we’d go directly to the government.”
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“This is a peace rally, we not fighting against crime we are here to promote peace. That is why we had the different prayer sessions in the seven different spots today.
“In the different religions, where there’s killing there has to be cleansing so there’s cleansing from different religious leaders at the spots. The spots are what we call hot spots where people were shot.”
According to Trimble, the known coloured communities’ stakeholders were all invited.
“Once we have the different communities’ stakeholders we will then sit as a Gauteng structure so that we will be able to address crime in our community.
“The crime that we see today is not just because of drugs but there are underlying factors such as social ills, economical dispensations like the unemployment of our youth and those are all the things that we are going to address as a collective. Once we have peace then people will be able to start living again,” concluded Trimble.
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Ward Councillor Susan Stewart said: “The scourge of drug in the community is not just a problem here, it’s a global issue and I believe that it is only God that can fix what is broken.”
The Station Commander of Sophiatown Police Station Brigadier Susan Crafford also took to the podium and said: “We also get touched by the violence in this community. It’s not easy for us to stand at scenes where people are being brutally killed, we go through the same trauma.”
“I can assure you that no matter where we are, we will always shine in our corners, our fire will never burn out with the support of all the stakeholders here and the MEC. We need more informers in our area, we will work so much better if people can attend our sector meetings and providing us with information. We can do so much better.”
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There were various religious leaders who also prayed at the venue and speakers such as Don Mattera and Zane Meas from the Fatherhood Foundation who also spoke on stage.
MEC Nkosi-Malobane took to the podium and said: “This event happens against the backdrop of gender-based violence, the brutal killings of our young men and women but also with the rise of substance abuse, bullying and gangsterism reported in this police precinct.
“We have responded in a caring way to say that we want you as a leadership and a community to provide us with solutions. When a young man is killed in the streets is Westbury, I am not there but you are the people who witness it, sometimes our children are the ones who witness it.”
“The solution to the killings are in us, the police must arrest the drug dealers but we are the ones who need to come up with the solution. As parents, we cannot outsource parenting, there is no government or school that can take over that aspect.”
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“Make sure that you shape and discipline your children, charity begins at home. The fight against drugs and gangsterism starts at home, let our children not see you drinking, do not send your child to the shebeen for alcohol, let our children not see us fight or let them not know the smell of weed. Let us lead by example. Let us report crime no matter who committed the crime.”
The MEC said that people should stop protecting the preparators. In the last few minutes of the MEC speech, she said: “Let this event not just be an event but let it be the start where we protect our innocent ones from wolves who prey on them.
“It is time for us as communities to talk about what’s happening and stop blaming, let’s take responsibility for the children, even if they aren’t ours. Even if we talk to ten youngsters standing on the corners smoking, you will at least get to one of them.”
The MEC added that self-love will lead to loving others. A memorandum was then handed over to the MEC by stakeholders pertaining the various issues in our community.
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