Western Cape premiership candidate Lize Mzansi has handed over a memorandum of complaint to Mfuleni police station calling for an end to police corruption and illegal firearms. During the campaign, the party says building safe communities is one of its top priorities.
They picketed outside Mfuleni Police Station to highlight the serious problem of crime in the area. In the latest incident in the state, five people, including a woman, were shot dead in Harare, Khayelitsha, on Wednesday.
Mfuleni has one of the highest murder rates in the Western Cape. Mfuleni ranks among the top 10 highest murder rates in the country, along with Nyanga, Gugulethu and Delft.
The police station covers the areas of Mfuleni, Blue Downs and Wesbank.
Over the years, many informal settlements have mushroomed around these areas. Western Cape Rise Mzansi premiership candidate Axoril Notiwala said his party would picket other major crime hubs in the province in the coming weeks as part of its election campaign.
“We are aware that some of these illegal firearms were supplied by the police. We are aware of the case of former police officer Christian Prinsloo who sold over 2000 guns to the Western Cape. They have killed more than 1,000 people in the Western Cape, and they continue to kill us. It's a gun that needs to be taken off the streets. To do that, we need to make sure that the police have the right resources for crime intelligence, because they're not the only ones who can deal with this. We need leadership.”
Wesbank supporter and resident Lindy Jacobs says crime is out of control in her area.
“I am calling on Police Minister Bheki Cele to release more police officers and police vans as there is no police visibility in Wesbank while gangs are on the run with guns. As we stand here, there are shootings every day, two funerals in Wesbank, and no police in sight, and when I called the police at 6 a.m., they were on shift. Blood is being shed at Wesbank and our children are dying at Wesbank.”
Police representatives received the memorandum and promised to forward it to the relevant authorities. They have two weeks to respond.