Johannesburg - Police Minister Bheki Cele, Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela and Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko visited the community of Finetown, south of Joburg, on Monday afternoon.
The visit comes after a group of unidentified alleged Basotho nationals shot and killed seven people, including three vendors and a fourth man as well as two women in a shooting spree outside a shisanyama on Saturday.
Cele was greeted by hundreds of community members who accused the Ennerdale police of failing to help them on Saturday, after the shooting incident.
"We are being killed… We are not safe here in Finetown. They took our people’s lives and the Ennerdale police were called but they refused to help us. This is not the first time.
“Police drive by slowly, because they say they are scared. We don’t have police here,” a community member told Cele.
The community of Finetown said they were fed up with crime in the area, exacerbated by high unemployment and the lack of service delivery.
It was also reported that this was not the only shooting resulting in the death of people in Finetown, with a similar incident the previous week.
It is reported that the previous week’s shooting incident claimed five lives. Members of the community and family members who lost their loved ones in this weekend’s shooting, told The Star that guns and killings had become an everyday occurrence.
“The police are failing us on a daily basis. You will see them now but after a week, they will be nowhere to be found. Just the previous week we had another shooting in the area, where five people were killed. We are not safe here,” said another community member, who refused to be named.
Following this outpouring of issues, Cele promised he and Commissioner Mawela would investigate their issues. He said he and members of government departments would return to Finetown to tackle the crime and other service delivery issues that continue to plague the community.
Some of the community’s gripes include street lights, crime, and the lack of amenities for young people. Cele said a mobile police station would be erected in the next seven days to ensure that crime is kept in check.
“We believe that some of you know the culprits and are probably scared, but others are shielding them. What kind of people shoot and kill people who are trying to make a living?
“We will increase police visibility in the area and will bring the special task force to help calm the situation down so that you can feel safe,” the minister said.
On the issue of street lights, Cele said the local councillor and newly elected Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi will be roped in to develop a comprehensive plan of action to ensure that these problems are sorted out, with a community imbizo set for the next two weeks.
“By Monday, the mobile police station will be brought here so that your issues can be addressed. We will call a crime imbizo to tackle the other issues. We will also sort out the issue of corrupt police which you have brought to our attention.
Another member of the community who witnessed this weekend’s attack, said he arrived at the scene to see one of his close friends, Sparks Makhoba, taking his last breath. He said he was called to two other victims of the same family shot by the assailants who are still at large.
“When I arrived, Sparks had already been shot and he was breathing heavily as a result of his injuries. I was then called to come and see my teammate Thabang Motloung and his sister Pinkie Kose, who were already lying side by side, dead. What I saw on Saturday is still haunting me. I can’t sleep at night due to what I saw. Pinkie was our trusted football team owner, while his brother played soccer with us. We are devastated by their deaths,” the witness said.
Bongani Makhoba who lost his son Sanele Sparks Makhoba in the shooting incident, said the family had high hopes for him as he was a passionate entrepreneur who started his own business alongside Thabang Motloung, both victims of the shooting.
"We are shattered by their loss. This was a young man who loved life. He was respectful and worked hard to make something of himself. We really had high hopes for him and his business endeavours,“ his father told The Star.
The Star