ANCYL members march to police station against crime in Soshanguve

Members of the ANC Youth League and Soshanguve residents on Wednesday marched from Giant Stadium to the Soshanguve police station where they demonstrated over the recent increase in crime.

The march was sparked by the escalation in deadly crime in the area, including the murder of five-year-old Ditebogo Phalane who was shot dead outside his home when his father was being hijacked two weeks ago.

League president Collen Malatji led the march and handed over a memorandum to police minister Bheki Cele, highlighting community concerns and urging immediate action to enhance safety and security in the area.

Malatji accused Soshanguve police of colluding with criminals.

“Their [police] work is to eat and earn salaries and eat with criminals. We are told that there are thieves in our uniforms, we are asking them to remove that uniform, the youth is ready to work and protect their communities.

“We won't allow thieves to wear our uniform of protecting the community. The celebration of criminals in Soshanguve has ended — we are saying young people will take charge of their communities. Our mothers live in fear in their homes, children are killed, women are raped, drugs are too much on the roads and they are relaxed in the police station,” he said.

According to the ANCYL, the march’s purpose was to demonstrate its frustration with the inability of the police and the security cluster in general to decisively deal with alarmingly rising brutal murders in our communities.

It has called upon the police to be more decisive in dealing with criminals who continue to disrupt communities’ social order. 

The youth league has demanded 24-hour visible policing,  and reskilling and reconfiguration of a CPF special task team to deal with cold cases, with priority given to murder-related cases.

The league demanded a comprehensive response to its demands within the next 14 working days. It said it would deploy a special task to work daily with police in ensuring the state acted decisively. 

National executive committee member Mduduzi Manana said the youth league was protesting against crime and not against the government.

“Youth league members and community members present today are not marching against the ANC or ANC-led government. They are marching against crime. They are marching to the police to say do not work with these criminals against the community.

“We can only come to the police to say protect us from criminals who are killing us daily,” he said.

Cele, who received the memorandum, said the police were working on tightening the selection process.

“We are trying to tighten the issue of selection to get authentic people, not people who are dying for a job but people who are going to be committed. I always say there is no job in the police, it's a service. You must come here if you want to serve.

“One thing we always tell the police is that when a woman is abused and comes to the police station, you drop everything and attend to that woman.

“You don't tell women to go back and negotiate. It's not their job to negotiate. Yours is to arrest that perpetrator. Therefore it's important that while all communities are protected, there should be extra protection for women, young people and the elderly,” he said.

Last week Cele visited the community after the death of Ditebogo. He presented additional policing units that will form part of the police stabilisation team deployed to counter and combat crime in and around the Reitgat, Loate, Mabopane and Soshanguve areas.

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