Pretoria - Two police officers who witnessed criminals stealing cables near the Reiger Park police station and did not do anything to stop them are due to face disciplinary charges.
This was revealed by the Gauteng provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety following their visit to Reiger Park police station in Ekurhuleni on Friday.
The committee visited the station following numerous complaints from the community about rampant cable theft, causing power outages.
Committee chairperson Dr Bandile Masuku commended the new station commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Bongani Dube, and his team for their significant strides to reduce prevalent cable theft in Reiger Park.
They were told how outages affected the community and businesses, and contributed to increased crime levels in the area. They also received a report on the successful arrests of a suspected syndicate behind the crime, which also cripples service delivery in the area.
The committee was further briefed regarding a video circulated on social media early this year in which a cable was stolen in front of the Reiger Park police station, in the presence of the police.
“The committee is pleased that the suspects seen in the video were successfully arrested and disciplinary action was being instituted against the two members who failed to act while the cable was stolen in their presence.
“The crime of cable theft in the province affects every resident and continues to be a nightmare that affects Gauteng’s economic growth and undermines the provincial government’s efforts to provide much-need services to residents,” Masuku said.
He called for “concerted efforts” by law enforcement agencies, residents, business and other stakeholders to protect critical infrastructure and end the devastating effects of cable theft that resulted in economic sabotage and compromised service delivery.
The commission had since made it their mission to personally visit several crime spots in Gauteng to engage with communities to find out their immediate concerns about crime, and their plans to combat it.
In February, the Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety called for the deployment of additional law enforcement officers in Westbury following rising levels of violence due to gangs in the area.
Their call came after the alleged shooting of more than 10 Westbury residents in the last four days of February, two of the victims succumbing to their injuries. Explaining their intervention, Masuku said they expected law enforcement to curb such crimes.
“The community of Westbury should no longer live in fear but enjoy their constitutional right to feel safe and secure in their neighbourhood.”
The committee had earlier written to provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela, urging that policing services be enhanced in Westbury and surrounding communities like Eldorado Park.
That prompted Lieutenant-General Mawela to deploy the Gauteng Anti-Gang Unit’s full time deployment in Westbury to get a handle on the widespread violence.
Pretoria News