Members of the community used the opportunity to voice their concerns to the MEC about the alarming number of criminal activities which had taken place consistently since April this year.
In her quest to ensure safety, MEC for Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko who was accompanied by local police, met with stakeholders from Ga-Rankuwa, to discuss safety issues which were affecting them in the community.
Mazibuko’s visit sought to allow community representatives as well as stakeholders an opportunity to raise their safety concerns in their respective areas as well as coming up with possible interventions to maintain safety and order in various communities.
With drugs in Ga-Rankuwa being on top of the charts, Mazibuko demanded that all addresses of the houses which were known to be selling drugs to be written down on a piece of paper so that proper actions could be taken against them.
Members of the community used the opportunity to voice their concerns to the MEC about the alarming number of criminal activities which had taken place consistently since April this year.
Various stakeholders and representatives also blasted the local police for not acting swiftly to their complaints and demanded a change in attitude from the men and women in blue.
Crime is very high in Ga-Rankuwa and what needed is urgent intervention – Ward 30 councillor Violet Phalwane
After getting blueticked by the police while marching to the local police station to hand over their memorandum of grievances earlier this year, Ga-Rankuwa residents escalated their complaints to MEC Mazibuko in writing, requesting an urgent meeting to discuss their issues and coming up with solutions to their problems.
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Acting police district commissioner, Brigadier Mabangwa Nkwashu who was also part of the MEC’s intervention applauded members of the community for standing for their rights and ensuring that members of law enforcement were held accountable for their actions.
“The communication officer also needs to communicate more with residents so they are aware of the operations happening in the station.
“This would ensure residents knew that the police were actively combating crime. Police operations have increased since residents delivered their memorandum in May,” said Nkwashu.
Residents were also not happy with the services of Ga-Rankuwa station commander Brigadier Junior Lehabe-Metsi and complained to Nkwashu about his competence. However, Nkwashu assured unhappy residents that they had measures in place to monitor the performance of the police through a performance enhancement plan and members of the community should not be worried.
Also in attendance was Ward 30 councillor Violet Phalwane who emphasized that crime was on a high in Ga-Rankuwa and needed urgent intervention.
She said, “We need to take charge as the community to make sure we combat crime which affects all of us, so we need to stand up as the community and stop it”.
In conclusion, Phalwane welcomed all the recommendations made by the MEC, further dubbing the meeting fruitful with the hope that crime would decrease significantly in the area after the MEC’s intervention.