Minister of Police Bheki Cele was exposed to the harsh realities of life on the Cape Flats when a man was shot minutes before his walkabout in Heideveld on Thursday.
The young man was left wounded in nearby Postern Road, while Cele and Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant Colonel Thembisile Patekile said they were aware of the incident.
“Gangsters have no respect for the time or people, that is why we have saturated the place with police, we have quite a big number of officers and increased visibility,” the Minister said.
“We also have to deal with the drug lords because the youngsters become attracted to this illegality of drugs and money.
“We have dealt with (arrested businessman Nafiz) Modack but there are many of them. And we need to deal with the upstairs, and find the actual guys on top.”
Cele’s walkabout in Khayelitsha and Manenberg comes after 15 people were murdered, 10 in Manenberg, in less than a week.
He was supposed to hold a two-day crime imbizo in Manenberg, Heideveld and Khayelitsha but the plan changed.
The minister has urged residents to come forward and report criminal activity but admits that there are shortcomings in the system, most notably in the justice department, which is responsible for witness protection.
“The people have called for unity for us to work together, and since the gang violence has started (last week) we have arrested 14 people, most of that information was from the community, otherwise if they kept quiet, we wouldn’t know anything.
“We found about five illegal firearms and on Wednesday night we arrested two people with firearms.
“The president has made a call that we must do better with the protection of the whistleblowers and those people who work with the law enforcement.”
Cele visited Khayelitsha yesterday morning, where five people were shot and killed in New Monwabisi Park on Monday.
While the killers are known to cops, no arrests have been made.
Resident Sinethemba Mtini, 34, says as shocking as Monday’s shooting was, they are used to “jumping over bodies”.
“Before we came here it was just a bush which was used to dump corpses.
“You’d think that they would stop doing that but no, we find bodies every week.
“When we call the police, they take their time and when they find out that someone is selling beer, they run out here.”
He says they need electricity in the Endlovini area as well.
“Criminals take advantage of the darkness, they knock on people’s doors and rob them at gunpoint.
“No one ever finds them because there are no streetlights and the police are clearly scared of driving in the dark.”
Cele condemned the callous killing of a couple and three men and told the residents: “The worst part of it is that they killed a woman.
“They shot her while she was naked. We are not looking for people, but animals.
“Their names are known by the police but we want to see their faces, we want the world to see who they are.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za