VIDEO and GALLERY: Tough stand against crime

Just a day before the country celebrated Human Rights Day, the Democratic Alliance (DA) embarked on a march against crime which aimed to highlight how the resident’s right to human dignity was violated daily by criminals.

On Friday 20 March, party members and other concerned residents walked through the streets of Roodepoort from the Civic Centre to Roodepoort Police Station where a memorandum with policing concerns was handed over to the acting Cluster Brigadier Wayne Sirkhot. Highlighting some of the contents of the memorandum, one of the leaders Gert Niemand said it was a worrying statistic that the Honeydew Cluster had the highest crime rate in the province. “This is no way a good story to tell. We cannot be in a cluster that is so high with crime. Where are our police? What are they doing? questioned Niemand.

He also told the acting Cluster Commander to address the issue of manpower in police stations. “We need enough police to serve per sector and this will minimise the response time of police and also increase visibility,” said Niemand.

DA Member of the Provincial Legislature and party’s spokesperson for Safety and Security Kate Lorimer said it was enough with the levels of crime. She took the time to highlight some of the challenges in the police service. “How many times have we heard that detectives are unable to make calls because they do not have airtime? How many times have we heard of lack of vehicles when police have to attend to crime scenes?” questioned Lorimer. She said residents have all been touched by crime. “We know someone who suffered at the hands of criminals, friends, families and ourselves have all been targeted and suffered at the hands of criminals,” highlighted Lorimer.

In accepting the memorandum, Brig Sirkhot told the marchers that he appreciated their time and effort that they took to come and bring forth their concerns. Brig Sirkhot said it is with such community involvements that they get to know which issues to look deeper into and also give more attention. “Your memorandum will assist us to fix whatever it is that we were not aware that it is wrong.”

He did not, however, shy away from the fact that there were corrupt police officers but he encouraged residents to name and shame those corrupt men and women in blue. “There is no place in the police service for corrupt officials, if you have any information, bring it forward and they will be dealt with,” stated Brig Sirkhot.

Concluding his address, the acting Cluster Commander said it was his wish to see the Honeydew Cluster Police having no crime at all and said with a joint effort between them and the community it was possible. He also encouraged the residents to be involved in their Community Policing Forums (CPF).