Tshwane MMC Allegedly Says SAPS Officers Are Part Of The Drug Trade In Pretoria. The Tshwane MMC for community safety and emergency services Karen Meyer reportedly announced on Monday that she got word and media footage that showed that representatives of the South African Polive Service were part of dealing in drugs.
The Tshwane MMC for community safety and emergency services Karen Meyer reportedly announced on Monday that she got word and media footage that showed that representatives of the South African Polive Service were part of dealing in drugs. The Tshwane MMC has criticised police officials for allegedly not allowing the Tshwane Emergency Services workers from extinguishing the buildings that alleged drug dealers occupied. Taxi drivers and residents reportedly attacked people that were apprehended by police officials, before burning the places they lived in.
“Tshwane Emergency Services personnel were prevented by the crowds from accessing and treating the alleged drug peddlers, but they were also prevented from doing so by the SAPS to extinguish the fire,” says Karen Meyer. The Tshwane MMC says the SAPS were supposed to protect the emergency services in order for them to do their work. “This was also the case during the events earlier this month in the CBD,” says the Tshwane MMC.
Karen Meyer says, “There are also similar reports and preliminary footage received by my office appears to indicate that the SAPS are also allegedly complicit in collecting money and facilitating the sale of drugs today.” The Tshwane MMC summoned Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela, the Gauteng South African Police Services commissioner, to look into the allegations of his officials being involved and “their refusal to permit emergency services personnel onto the scene to do their work.”
She went on to say that the even though there were commitments and discussions between the South African Police Services and the Tshwane Metro Police Department about joint drug busting operations, they have not happened yet. She reportedly added that this why residents see the law enforcement as part of the issue. The Tshwane MMC says the South African Police Services needs to come to the forefront as soon as possible in order to “assuage the fears of communities living with the daily scourge of drugs and address the perceptions that law enforcement is involved, or run the risk of this being held true due to silence and inaction.”
by Alexandra Ramaite
