Cape Town - The Gugulethu Community Policing Forum has written a letter to Police Minister Bheki Cele demanding a meeting with him to come up with answers to spiralling crime plaguing the community.
Following the fatal mass shooting of eight people at a residence in NY 79, Gugulethu a week and a half ago, the community’s CPF says it has been left with no choice but to demand an audience with the overall head of police as a means to finally begin to address the scourge of violence the community is currently struggling to stamp out.
Gugulethu CPF Chairperson Thembinkosi Mjuza said the forum had decided on sitting down with the minister after noting that since their last call to action, nothing much had been done to address the community’s issues, including a conclusion into the investigation of the fatal shooting of seven people in NY 78, Gugulethu, in November last year.
“Gugulethu falls under a big and troublesome cluster. This means that many of our challenges are pertinent to shortcomings we have easily and already identified. We have noted that there are minimal resources put in place to deal with crime in communities under the Gugulethu cluster such as, visible policing, detective services, support services, and inactive CCTV cameras.
“We truly believe at this point that the only way we can properly address and resolve issues we are struggling with is to sit down with the minister and hash out possible interventions that will not be a blanket approach and will work for Gugulethu.
“We can’t be sitting with another unsolved mass shooting and more violence looming as if there are no ideas or resources that can be directed to deal with such situations,” said Mjuza.
Meanwhile, police say they are still investigating the mass shooting and no arrests have yet been made.
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said: “The investigation is still under way and arrests are yet to be made.”
The forum also slammed the City’s Safety and Security Directorate, saying its lack of commitment towards supporting safety watches in the community was breeding a fertile environment for criminal activity.
“The City is not committed to supporting us. Our safety watches are more active in assisting and working with residents, yet they are not receiving adequate support and assistance.
“The City supports other areas but they are not directing resources here. We are pleading with the City to take our neighbourhood watches seriously,” said Mjuza.