Durban - The DA in KwaZulu-Natal has expressed concerns about the spike in murders in the Estcourt area.
The party said it planned to request an explanation from Police Minister Bheki Cele regarding the murders and for him to detail what is being done to deal with the killings that appeared to be increasing in the area.
Alf Lees, DA MP and constituency head, said: “The DA in uThukela will this month submit a parliamentary question to Bheki Cele, the minister of police, to establish what progress has been made to charge the perpetrators of murders in Estcourt over the past five years.
“This as the number of murders seemingly continues to spike. This includes the drive-by shooting in the middle of Estcourt town last week that resulted in two deaths,” he said.
He said the repeated incidents of shootings and murders in Estcourt were to be condemned in the strongest terms.
“The question remains, why it seems that none of the perpetrators of these murders in public places in Estcourt during daylight with thousands of lives put at risk have been charged, convicted and sent to prison for life? What action have the police taken to collect evidence and make arrests?
“It cannot be business as usual when perpetrators are roaming our communities freely at the cost of residents,” he said.