Cape Town - Newly appointed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has called for a meeting with local authorities to tackle gang violence in the Western Cape amid a spate of shootings in various hotspots.
Mchunu took to the stage at Voorspoed Primary School in Hanover Park on Saturday, where he held an imbizo just a day after Law Enforcement officers came under attack while executing an arrest of a gunman.
Videos of the vicious attack went viral on social media, showing the officer being struck with a brick in the head as residents came out to condemn the attack.
Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the ShotSpotter system detected over 30 shots being fired and officers were deployed directly into the battle zone of opposition gangs.
“One of the gunmen ran directly past our officers, who began chasing him.
“He opened fire on the officers, who returned fire and hit the suspect.
“After arresting the suspect and securing the firearm, a large part of the community turned on the officers and began assaulting them, including throwing bricks at them.
“Officers were forced to flee the scene, with several of our vehicles severely damaged in the escape,” said Smith.
In his address at the imbizo, Mchunu said he would extend his stay in Cape Town if required, but called for a meeting with the City of Cape Town and provincial government by Thursday to address gang violence.
The minister demanded the return of the firearm taken in the attack, saying: “We want that firearm. It must be put on the table. Now National Commissioner, I want that firearm please go and get it.
“That firearm is part of the firearms we are complaining about where more than half of the murders are being committed with firearms that are illegal. Who took it and where it is now, the people of Hanover Park will have to tell us. They will have to produce that firearm.”.
Smith said after the attack, he cleared his schedule and embarked on a door-to-door campaign where the City offered a R20 000 reward for information.
He said within hours, he received information from a concerned resident who did not want a reward, but provided information and this led to the arrest of four people including a woman.
“Under the cover of darkness, our teams returned along with SAPS Flying Squad and the National Intervention Unit.
“Four suspects were identified and taken into custody. And we are not done yet.”
Smith said while he was willing to attend the meeting with Mchunu, he believed the minister has come “three months too late”.
“Three months ago, myself and Reagen Allen (then Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC) called for a meeting with SAPS amid the rising gang violence in the city.
“We offered all our resources as well as the Eye in the Sky to tackle the growing problem as we had eight gang stations with an increased amount of violence and this included Hanover Park, Nyanga, Grassy Park, Kleinvlei and others.
“Each time we asked for a strategy to be devised, there were delays and after the elections the matter was again raised by the new Community Safety MEC.
“We are willing to meet but I do not need an invitation to an imbizo when I am in contact daily with residents. I also don’t see why so many meetings must be held when a strategy must simply be devised and executed. We proposed putting a lockdown on all these communities where we do thorough sweeps of gang strongholds.”