Cape Town - The Bishop Lavis Community Policing Forum (CPF), which includes Bonteheuwel, says it is disturbed by an increasing narrative and lies peddled by the area’s councillor.
It alleges that when crime decreases, councillor Angus McKenzie claims it is because of his interventions, and when it spirals out of control, paints a bad picture of the police.
CPF chairperson Graham Lindhorst said at times McKenzie slammed the CPF too.
“I am not sure if it is a carefully designed plan to boost the image of his political party, but people will know that the 100 law enforcement officers (deployed to the area) alone cannot bring the change seen.”
Lindhorst said if it were true, then why was the same success not seen in areas such as Delft, where the officers were also deployed.
“Fact is, that those officers were only seen in Bonteheuwel when they were launched, as these days they are nowhere to be seen,” he said.
This comes after Mckenzie stated that although the national murder rate had increased by 6.6%, the Bishop Lavis police station had shown a remarkable decrease of 44%.
“This consistent drop in the murder rate from 37 in 2018 to 25 in 2019 and down to 14 in 2020 is testament to the amazing initiatives and programmes that have been implemented in the area,” McKenzie said.
He said Bishop Lavis precinct was now 24th in the province, showing a 78% reduction in murders versus other stations in the province and in the country.
McKenzie said Bishop Lavis did not even appear in the top 30 any longer for murders, claiming there had been a hard fight for the law enforcement officers to be deployed.
McKenzie said this was due to the lack of trust, lack of response and lack of service from the police.
Community activist Henrietta Abrahams said McKenzie was known for taking credit for everything and acting as if “he and he alone is the messiah” of Bonteheuwel.
Abrahams said he (McKenzie) lacked a true understanding of the complexities of their community issues that were deeply steeped in poverty and inequality.
Responding to claims, McKenzie said he appreciated the comments by the CPF "however, it is, in actual fact, the CPF that should be holding the police accountable and, sadly, we have seen very little of that over the last few years in Bonteheuwel."
He said it was true and acknowledged by the CPF, that the contributing factors to the reduced rate of murders in the area was the community making use of the councillor’s tip-off service, community volunteer ambassador programme and the deployment of the law enforcement team.
Cape Argus