Durban - Police believe there may be a third force behind the recent rock-throwing incidents that have caused widespread panic across the city.
In the past two months, two people have been killed and at least eight more injured when large rocks were thrown on to their vehicles from pedestrian bridges erected over highways in various parts of Durban.
A number of incidents were reported to have taken place on the pedestrian bridge over the N2, just after the oThongathi Toll Plaza, and there was a report of a man and his wife escaping injury after a rock was thrown into their car in Glen Anil at the weekend.
Speaking at a multidisciplinary law enforcement meeting on Tuesday, Outer North Cluster head, Major-General Lucas Ngobeni, said the rock-throwing incidents appeared to be organised.
“The people behind these incidents have planned to kill others. I know that our MEC for Community Safety and Liaison is leading a campaign against rock-throwing incidents.
“The MEC has called for all law enforcers to work together and educate the community around the bridges. We have also been mandated to patrol the areas around the bridges. We want to arrest those behind these attacks,” he said.
Ngobeni said the idea was to gain the trust of the community around the bridges and work with them to weed out the criminal elements and get information about those behind the rock-throwing scourge.
He said: “Our investigation seems to suggest that these incidents could be orchestrated by certain business operators.
“We want to engage with them and find a way to end these incidents. We know that they know about our efforts and they have moved to other areas,” he said.
Ngobeni was referring to the two recent incidents along the M4, one near Boys Town and the other in Glen Anil.
He said sub-forums would be established to educate communities near the bridges about the incidents.
Umesh Singh, eThekwini Outer North Cluster Community Police chairperson, said they had found that the incidents started in oThongathi and spread to other areas.
“As the community, in partnership with police, we are trying to create awareness and advise motorists about the issues. We are educating them about what precautions to take when approaching bridges.
“We are also looking at other ways of protecting those who use these roads. We want to get as much assistance from the neighbouring communities and we want to go out and get the perpetrators so the law can take its course,” he said.
Ward councillor Geoff Pullan was present at the meeting and had appealed to Tongaat Hulett, the company whose crops border either side of the bridge, to monitor who walks on it.
“In both directions, there are only informal settlements much further on. So someone who came to throw those rocks could only have come to do so deliberately,” he said.
Ngobeni said patrols would continue along bridges identified as hot spots.
Meanwhile, plans were still in place to erect steel cages and surveillance cameras on bridges in affected areas, said deputy mayor Fawzia Peer.
“This cannot be done overnight as normal council processes will have to take place and this will also depend on funding,” Peer said.