270 officers deployed on Cape Flats
AFTER Police Minister Bheki Cele announced the deployment of 270 police officers to gang-infested areas on the Cape Flats, community workers asked for more successful court convictions in certain areas. These are: Mitchells Plain, Elsies River, Bishop Lavis, Ravensmead, Manenberg, Steenberg, Grassy Park and Philippi. Cele announced Operation Thunder in Mitchells Plain recently.
The additional officers will come from other provinces and will focus on murders, gang violence, taxi violence and other serious crime. The officers will be made up of members from the Tactical Response Unit, the Special Task Force, as well as detectives, and will be tasked with arrests and obtaining convictions. The officers will also be working with community organisations.
Deputy chairperson of the Elsies River Community Police Forum Imraahn Mukkadam welcomed news of the officers’ deployment. “We appreciate the extra police officers, but we need more successful prosecutions of criminals. Our community is under siege. We want to see more
‘THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE FAMILY UNIT IS NOT FUNCTIONING ANY MORE’
criminals behind bars. After gangsters are arrested, how many result in court convictions? There are continuous flare-ups of violence in Elsies River. Last week we had a few murders, and there might be a retaliation attack at the funeral,” Mukkadam said.
Manenberg community leader Roegshanda Pascoe, said: “The police and the Department of Social Development should work together. The root of the problem is that the family unit is not functioning any more. The police cannot police homes. They can only make arrests.
“In terms of gang violence, Manenberg is quiet now. The police also need to deal with the selling of drugs in communities.”