The feedback meeting to Zandspruit residents, on the improvement of service delivery by the police, has been postponed.
Police Minister, General Bheki Cele, was meant to host the community engagement on Friday, 18 June 2021. But this meeting has been put off until further notice, due the rising COVID-19 infections in the Gauteng province.
The meeting is informed by the killing of eight youths on the 17th of May 2021, in acts of vigilantism and criminality in Zandspruit. Following that incident,, General Cele met with community leadership structures, to find out why some in this community took the law into their own hands. The meeting revealed a trust deficit between residents and the police, brought about by numerous claims of rampant police corruption and overall substandard service delivery from the Honeydew police station.
As a way forward, Minister Cele ordered for a police Task Team to, amongst other things, look at identified problems within the station and how service delivery could be improved. He committed to return to the area within a month, to provide feedback to the residents, on what has been done to enhance the stations performance and service delivery.
The Ministry of Police remains reassured that the South African Police Service in the province, is hard at work in eradicating crime, it is encouraged about the progress made so far in arresting criminals through Operation ‘Okae Molao’, which targeted Zandspruit and surrounding areas. Over 350 suspects have been arrested through this operation, for various crimes including assault GBH, theft, fraud, possession of drugs and stolen goods. 204 illegal immigrants were also arrested and taken in for processing.
