Cele agrees to address Westbury protesters
WESTBURY: VIOLENCE-TORN COMMUNITY ON KNIFE-EDGE
Residents had vowed not to back down until they are addressed by the police minister.
Residents in the violence-torn Westbury vowed to not back down yesterday until Police Minister Bheki Cele addressed the community. And late yesterday, Cele’s office confirmed he will be meeting the community this morning.
This is in addition to the provincial police department agreeing to investigate the community’s allegations of police corruption and address their concerns over rampant drug-related crimes.
“The ANC government doesn’t care about coloured people,” a resident on Fuel Road was heard shouting as SA Police Service (Saps) and metro police nyalas patrolled the area.
Officers intermittently fired shots in retaliation to bottles and rocks being thrown at them.
Residents highlighted various issues which they said government had ignored, including a drug turf war which, according to some residents, has seen at least 40 people killed this year.
Residents also accused police of colluding with drug dealers and accepting bribes and said the ANC government had abandoned coloured communities.
Yesterday, Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Deliwe de Lange was looking into the community’s accusations of corruption at Sophiatown police station and had moved certain officers out of the station until further notice.
“In response to the community’s allegations of police corruption and involvement in the protection of drug dealers, we have sanctioned an urgent internal investigation,” she said.
“Three members from Sophiatown police station have subsequently been moved to different environments as a precautionary measure, pending the outcome of the internal investigation.”
The protest was sparked last week by the death of a 41-year-old woman in a hail of bullets which left her 10-year-old daughter injured.
The incident was an alleged drive-by shoot-out involving rival drug dealers, but residents who spoke to The Citizen believe the woman was shot deliberately.
De Lange said police have been maintaining a high visibility in the area since the shooting incident. By late yesterday afternoon, at least four people had been arrested for public violence.
De Lange thanked the community for coming forward with information which led to the arrest of two suspected drug dealers.
“More arrests can be expected as the multi-disciplinary task team established by the provincial commissioner continues with the intelligence-led investigations,” she said.
Residents were seen looting at least two shops as the protest surged metres away from the blocked and abandoned streets.
Johannesburg Metro Police Department spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said several people were hit by rubber bullets after protesters began throwing rocks and other objects at the police.
While some residents claimed that nine people had been shot by rubber bullets, Minnaar said he could not confirm this.
Cele is scheduled to meet the residents at the Westbury Recreation Centre at 11am. – simnikiweh@citizen.co.za