Police are failing to contain the crime and violence plaguing Joe Slovo Park and the community is fed up, say residents.
Murders, thuggish extortion rackets putting the squeeze on businesses and muggings are common in the area, say residents, and frustration has reached a new high following the killing of 28-year-old Gcobisa Mabija earlier this month (“Killing of woman, 28, shocks Joe Slovo”, Tabletalk, May 15).
Community leader Themba Gala has accused the police of showing a lack of urgency in solving violent crime in the area.
“We don’t expect police to be at every single corner of Joe Slovo all of the time. However, we do need constant police presence. And even if a crime occurs and they are not there at the moment, the response time should be quick. We pay taxes just like everyone else and we need to feel protected.
“I am very disgusted by the police’s calm attitude and disregard for our people. I saw the police’s response to the murder in the newspaper last week. They simply don’t care.”
Resident Ayanda Khilaji said: “Look at all the crimes that happen, especially the murders, most of these go without any arrests being made. And even when people are arrested, criminals are always let back onto the street to come and terrorise us again.
“We as Joe Slovo residents need to make our grievances heard and demand a change or demand that the station commander be removed from his position. He and all his detectives are failing the people of Joe Slovo. Perhaps we should threaten to withhold our votes? Maybe we should burn tyres and things to get attention? We have run out of ways to complain about this issue.”
A resident who did not want to be named as they feared for their safety said Ms Mabija’s death had been linked to the protection rackets in the area.
“When they can’t get their target, they kill anyone close to you to prove a point. These protection-fee guys are running rampant here. Spaza shops, shebeens, street hawkers, anyone with any kind of business is a target for them.”
In April, children found themselves caught up in a hijacking in Joe Slovo (“School children forced out of vehicle by hijackers,” Tabletalk, April 24), and robberies are a constant problem in the area, according to residents (“Violent robberies plague Joe Slovo,” Tabetalk, January 17).
In December, a Joe Slovo man was stabbed and killed on his way to work (“‘Anyone at any time can be a victim’,” Tabletalk, December 19, 2023), and a month before that, the husband of a shebeen owner and two patrons were killed in an extortion-related incident (“Three shot dead in Joe Slovo shebeen,” Tabletalk, November 22, 2023).
Milnerton police spokeswoman Captain Nopaya Madyibi rejected the claim that police were not patrolling Joe Slovo.
“Joe Slovo, like Dunoon, is one of our crime hot spots, and we dedicate a lot more resources in terms of visibility in that area. The difference between the two communities is that in Dunoon, we have fixed structures like Sanco, organisations like Dunoon Women Against Gender-Based Violence, etc. These and other structures work well as partners to us and we get things done. However, in Joe Slovo, people are more reluctant to come to the party. We don’t have strong enough ties with leaders and local structures. We would like to reach out and strengthen these bonds as we have in the past,” she said.
Captain Madyibi said that while an extortion link could not be ruled out in the killing of Ms Mabija, the case was still under investigation.
“In terms of extortion claims in Joe Slovo, we urge shop owners and residents to report these incidents. In communities like Summer Greens, we have strong ties with the local structures and once we received word of extortionists, we were able to make arrests immediately,” she said.
Four people were arrested in Summer Greens in March for attempted extortion (“Extortionists and robbers target Summer Greens shops,” Tabletalk, April 3).
