Cape Town - A second police station would soon be opened in Nyanga - the province’s murder capital - Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer announced on Thursday.
The announcement was made at the launch of the police’s “Safer Festive Season” campaign in Brown’s Farm.
Nyanga has been the province’s murder capital for five years. Nyanga cluster commander Jeremy Veary said the Brown’s Farm area accounted for about 49 percent of murders in Nyanga.
Lamoer accompanied officers on a walkabout through Brown’s Farm on Thursday, where he announced that a new mobile police station would be opened soon. This would be followed by the opening of a satellite police station in the area in the future.
He told residents criminals no longer only targeted residents, but law enforcement officers, including police, were also in the firing line. Four law enforcement officers were attacked in the Western Cape this week.
Lamoer said safety was not only a police matter, but residents, NGOs, the City of Cape Town, businesses and the provincial government needed to work together to curb crime.
“Safety is not only a police problem, it needs efforts from all of us. Co-operation must be strengthened and we don’t need to be vigilantes to clear the streets,” Lamoer said.
There have been at least 14 known acts of vigilante killings in Khayelitsha and Nyanga over the past few months, which led to the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate police inefficiency in Khayelitsha.
Lamoer said the challenge now was “to make this festive season the safest ever”. He urged residents to forget their differences and work together.
Lamoer commended Veary and other policemen for continuing to do their job despite criticism and attacks from criminals.
Veary said they had established a “people policing” strategy to tackle crime in the area in the past three months. It comprised 66 street committees in Nyanga with one policeman allocated to a committee.
“Crime is down and this increases our presence in Nyanga.”
Veary said they had found that most assaults and murders in the area occurred between people who knew each other. He said the street committees had been most effective here, as they were run by locals living in the area, with the help of police.
Veary said large socio-economic issues needed to be tackled.
“You can have 1 000 policemen here, but as long as the people live in poverty there will always be crime.”
Hanif Loonat, Western Cape Community Policing Forum board chairperson, appealed to residents to speak out against criminal activities.
Loonat urged them to stop supporting illegal shebeens, gangs and the killing of policemen.
“Your silence makes you as guilty as the perpetrators of the crime.”
Lamoer said attacks on police officers had increased to 180 in the past nine months.
Cape Argus