Zandspruit residents have no confidence in the police

by Solly Msimanga Cllr – DA Gauteng Premier Candidate

Today, hundreds of residents from the Zandspruit informal settlement marched to the Honeydew Police Station demanding that the police must deal with the escalating level of crime, particularly the scourge of women and children abuse taking place in their community, amongst other things.
Honeydew is the police station that serves Zandspruit.
Residents claim that they report various incidents of crime to the police but yet nothing is being done to keep the people safe, especially women and children.
Residents handed over a memorandum to police with a list of concerns that they want the police to address. The residents of Zandspruit have lost faith in the police as they are failing in their mandate to prevent crime and to ensure residents’ safety.
Honeydew is one of top 30 stations in the country for Assault GBH and Common Assault, common robbery, robbery with aggravating circumstances, carjacking, robbery residential, Trio crimes, contact crimes and sexual assault.
The recent crime statistics released by the National Minister of Police, Bheki Cele for the 2017/2018 financial year, indicated that Gauteng has become a haven for criminals, with murder and sexual offences on the rise.
The ANC is failing in its mandate to keep the residents of Zandspruit safe.
It is clear that residents of Zandspruit are in dire need of Change.
Although there are good men and women in the SAPS who are committed to serving communities, it is also true that there are negative elements in the SAPS that need to be removed in order for the SAPS to do its job. The SAPS need to be professionalised in order to serve communities across Gauteng.
The DA has a clear plan in place to ensure the safety of Gauteng’s residents by rooting out corruption and hiring professional police who are passionate about serving the people.
We will also ensure that the police service is well equipped with the necessary resources needed to combat crime such as specialised vehicles and staff.
It is high-time that our people are given a police force that is honest, professional and effective in fighting crime.
Come 2019 we will ensure that we give our residents the police force they deserve.