Western Cape ramps up law enforcement deployment to combat possible violence
The Western Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre said fake news about riots and violence spreading to the province was causing unnecessary panic.
Messages have been shared widely on social media warning of people of looting.
The sun is finally out in Cape Town today and communities in the biggest townships ( Khayelitsha and Gugs) are ready to protect our malls. pic.twitter.com/hrbKl2Ur9x
— Chisana (@logacrimz) July 14, 2021
Town center Mitchell’s plain Capetown Western Cape pic.twitter.com/YfvMFO3WHI
— Gee (@Economic_Rebel) July 14, 2021
Short while ago Community members blocks 30-40 lootists from looting 2 centres in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. #NoToLooting pic.twitter.com/U89aZB1X1w
— Sipho (@siphojanuary) July 13, 2021
But they’re fake, so said authorities. Many photos and videos of violent protests circulating are old.
Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile said as many officers as possible had been deployed.
“We activated our plans last night, all the districts and all the municipalities have to pass on the command and they are back on the streets. The personnel that was in the offices are all on the streets, what we’ve done was collapse the shifts to make maximum deployment,” he said.
At the same time, Western Cape police say additional resources had already been deployed to potential hotspots.
Officers are in malls, shopping centres and CBDs and are also patrolling primary and secondary routes.
Air support is also being used to monitor areas according to Patekile, who also said they were in communication with businesses.
“We have prioritised the proximity of the majority of the people that are using those malls. When the plans were activated, businesses were part of the plan. On an hourly basis on station level, provincial and cluster level we had communication confirmed on many of the issues that are coming up,” the commissioner said.
-EWN
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