Johannesburg - People who knew the details of Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain Senzo Meyiwa’s murder should report it to the police instead of gossiping, said Mandisa Mkhize on Thursday.
The soccer star’s widow was speaking to Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, residents.
She said she was aware of people gossiping about other widows and that some even used social networking sites such as Facebook to gossip about their husband’s murder.
Mkhize said those people did not come forward to report the information to police to help with the arrest of their husband’s murderers.
She said she and her family were struggling to come to terms with Meyiwa’s death, especially because of the rumours.
The soccer star was shot dead during a botched robbery in October last year. At the time, he was visiting his girlfriend, singer and actress Kelly Khumalo, who lives in the area.
Murder charges were withdrawn against a man believed to have been involved in his death, and police have made no more arrests since then.
Mkhize, together with the SAPS, the Ekurhuleni metro police department (EMPD), government officials and crime-fighting organisations, addressed residents at the Vosloorus Civic Centre regarding the spike in crime in the area.
Station commander Brigadier Themba Denge said there had been a rise in serious crime since the start of the financial year. These included murder, rape, assault, hijackings and robberies.
From October to December last year, there had been 18 murders and 19 rapes in Vosloorus.
The statistics had prompted police to take action, and they implemented an anti-crime prevention plan in the area.
As part of the initiative, the community, police and members of the community police forum, among others, embarked on an anti-crime march in the streets of Vosloorus.
“We must take our streets back from these criminals, we are tired of living in fear,” resident Thembi Ndube said during the protest action.
Members of the SAPS and EMPD led and supervised the march in police vehicles and on foot, with some joining in.
Katlehong cluster commander Major-General Tebello Mosikili said a partnership between the community and police was vital in the fight against crime.
“The majority of crime happens behind close doors or in secluded places where there is no police visibility,” said Mosikili. “We need the community to report these crimes because we can’t be everywhere all the time.”
The Star