“We had to organise marches and protests for over nine months for the safety of our communities and to get attention from the government.”
These were the words of Shahiem Ismail, a community leader from Newclare during a visit by Gauteng MEC for Community Safety, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane to discuss problems plaguing the Coloured communities and solutions to them.
Twenty-five leaders represented their various communities in the province. This follows the recent violent protests over service delivery in areas such as Eldorado Park, Ennerdale, Lawley, Newclare and Kliptown. The protests resulted in the looting of several shops and damage to property.
Nkosi-Malobane stated that she had to come up with a new strategy of tackling all issues at the same time.That was because in previous occasions the department would visit the communities separately and after fixing the problems troubling those communities, the same problems would occur in different communities, she said.
“It was important for the department to meet with the Coloured community leaders to try and tackle all the issues together,” said Nkosi-Malobane.
She added that while the country was experiencing attacks on women and children, Westbury experienced high volumes of murder.
“Just in one area we had more than 40 young women and men being killed in broad daylight in Westbury,” she said.
Ismail also shone the spotlight on the high crime rate in Newclare, stating that Sophiatown Police Station-which serves their community- was short staffed and in most cases could not help the community.
He added that more police officers needed to be employed in the area as it was faced with a number of threatening issues that led to criminal activities.
Nkosi-Malobane stated that her department will commence with an Indaba in the first week of July, where all 30 Coloured community leaders will be invited to take part in coming with solutions to stop the crimes and killings that have been happening in their areas.
The department will also re-introduce industrial schools to enable delinquent learners to undergo training that will assist them in becoming responsible citizens.