Durban – Police minister Bheki Cele honoured a promise to the community of Chatsworth on Friday when he returned to address crime concerns following the murder of a nine-year-old child two weeks ago.
Meeting at the Nelson Mandela Youth Centre, Cele was accompanied by newly appointed Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) head, lieutenant general Godfrey Lebeya, National Police Commissioner, Khehla Sitole and KwaZulu-Natal MEC for community safety and liaison, Mxolisi Kaunda.
Cele had promised Chatsworth residents that he would return two weeks after first meeting with them following the death of Sadia Sukhraj on 28 May. The child was killed in what is alleged to have been either a botched hijacking/kidnapping attempt or vehicle theft.
It remains unclear who shot Sadia, with ballistics results still pending.
One suspect was arrested, one was killed on the day of the incident and another is on the run, although police say they have identified him.
The child’s death caused outrage in the area, with “fed up” community members marching to the police station to demand action against unacceptable levels of crime and calling for more police to be deployed to the area.
The 1 000-strong crowd was dispersed with stun grenades and rubber bullets after police alleged they were threatened. Twenty people were arrested, heightening tensions, which led to Cele visiting the area and receiving a list of concerns.
Cele addressed those concerns on Friday, including the lack of vehicles at the Chatsworth Police Station and a need for additional officers.
The minister said the deployment of additional officers would be considered but made it clear that it was a national problem. “The shortage [of officers in Chatsworth] is 16. It is quite a high number, so we will have to wait and see,” he said. “The problems you are facing here are national ones.”
The police station was short of 12 vehicles, he said, but 11 would be delivered by August.
Cele said he and commissioner Sitole had agreed that visible policing also needed to be increased.
“One thing we are trying to elevate – we did have it before and we are trying to bring it back - on the exits and entrances of residential areas, we want to put permanent, static blue light cars.”
The statement was met with cheers and clapping from the large crowd.
He again reiterated that he wanted the South African Police to be “an organisation of excellence”. Drawing laughs from the crowd, Cele recalled that it used to be the case that if young people were not particularly hardworking or talented, they were told to join the police.
“That has changed, that’s why we have doctors of law now,” he said, motioning to Lebeya, who has a doctorate in criminal law and is an advocate.