Bheki Cele: Police interventions in Diepsloot & Kliptown not meant to be permanent

Police Minister Bheki Cele said that the policing interventions in both Diepsloot and Kliptown were not meant to be permanent solutions for the high levels of crime in both communities.

Cele on Wednesday announced that more resources would be deployed to the Kliptown police station following complaints by residents that the station was under-resourced and unresponsive to the community’s needs.

Earlier this month, Cele and his Home Affairs counterpart deployed immigration officials and members of the tactical response team to Diepsloot following a two-day anti-crime community protest.

Cele explained that the temporary policing interventions were meant to bring stability to affected communities but said that it would take a collaborative effort from all spheres of government to tackle the societal issues that fuelled the problem of crime.

“For instance, one thing that is a big problem for SAPS is environmental design, that is, the question of electricity is both for City Power, Eskom and the police. We do have to work together with everybody else,” Minister Cele said.

He admitted that the police’s resources weren’t boundless, adding that communities could not be turned into highly policed areas.

“We can’t make the country and our townships police areas. They need to be temporarily balanced and then life continues,” he said.

While it’s unclear how many members of the specialized forces would be sent to Kliptown, they would join the more than 100 members who were sent to Diepsloot.

-EWN

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