Criminals are free, we are not, politicians tell marchers
With colourful placards, a marching band and the chanting of struggle songs, about 100 people marched through Bethelsdorp yesterday to commemorate SA’s first democratic elections in 1994.
The Freedom Day picket, organised by several political organisations, kicked off opposite the New Apostolic Church.
Build One South Africa (Bosa), the ACDP and the Abantu Integrity Movement, marched along Soudien and Kleinskool roads to the Bethelsdorp police station, where they delivered a letter of demands.
Increasing police visibility and the number of patrol vehicles were among the demands contained in the 10-page letter.
“Bethelsdorp has only one visible policing vehicle that runs 24/7,” it said. “The station is one accident away from bringing their visible policing to a standstill ... we need at least 10 running police vehicles and another eight support vehicles in the metro.
“The police management fleet process is broken and needs to be restored urgently.”
The parties also demanded stronger public, private and community partnerships to enable better monitoring and protection of public assets and services.
“That would require greater resource allocation to communities where there is no visible policing,” the parties said.
They also wanted the police to arrest people under the influence of alcohol “who are a nuisance to the public”.
“By doing this we can slash gender-based and other violence ... we need far more capable policemen and policewomen at police stations. These should include more detectives who are experienced enough to effectively carry out the jobs.”
The marchers also wanted the men and women in blue to carry out more foot patrols in communities.
“In this way, they form stronger bonds with communities and will be able to earn their trust when it comes to intelligence gathering.
“We need transparency and accountability from police by placing cameras on them when doing patrols or responding to incidents.
“This should earn better community trust in the long run.”
Bosa’s Mmusi Maimane said the purpose of the joint march was to address the high levels of crime and criminal activities affecting the Bethelsdorp community.
“Crime robs people of their freedom,” Maimane said, adding that criminals were at the helm in SA.
“Crooks are running our government, so no-one is free, the only people who are free and that can celebrate Freedom Day are the criminals.
“They are free to roam the streets but should actually be in jail.”
The ACDP’s Lance Grootboom said he was concerned by the spate of violence plaguing communities such as Bethelsdorp.
“For the past 29 years our people roamed the streets of Bethelsdorp not feeling free.
“There’s gangsterism, there’s drugs, rapes and robberies ... how is this a free state?
“Our people are not really free and we are asking government to intervene, to bring this lawlessness to an end, it can’t go on like this and that’s why we are here today.”