Everson Luhanga
After a week in which seven people were shot, outraged Tembisa residents marched into the Tembisa Rabasotho police station to demand that it be shut down because it is not protecting the community.
Of the seven people who were shot, three have died.
The latest incident took place last Friday when an off-duty police officer is alleged to have shot and killed a man who attempted to rob him. The officer was stabbed in the altercation and remains in hospital.
Community leader Tatu Mahlangu said they are disappointed at how the police station operates.
“We don’t see police patrolling the communities. There is absolutely no police visibility,” Mahlangu told Scrolla.Africa.
He explained that residents regularly have to wait for over five hours for the police to arrive at a crime scene.
“Most of the time, we are told that there are no police officers and there are no police vans to be sent out and attend to crime scenes,” said Tatu.
The stand-off between the community members and the police at the station lasted for well over five hours, as impassioned members of the community refused to move until officers were dispatched immediately to local crime hotspots.
While the quarrel raged on, one community member sent a voice note to someone at the station saying she had been robbed at gunpoint.
Addressing the angry residents, station commander Brigadier Roopchand Sookraj admitted that there is a lack of police visibility in the area and assured residents of Tembisa that they will see more officers patrolling the streets.
Brigadier Sookraj pleaded with residents to work with the police and report the crime to the officials.
Another community leader Thabiso Chere said there has been an increase in mob justice in the area because police drag their feet to attend crime scenes.
“People are tired of begging the police to do their job,” Chere said.
Police spokesman Captain Manyadza Ralidzhivha confirmed that there has been an uptick of serious crimes in Tembisa with the same modus operandi.
“There is a group of armed criminals travelling in a car robbing people and breaking into people’s houses demanding cell phones,” Captain Ralidzhivha said.
“We had cases registered at the police station and police are still investigating those cases.”
