Gauteng residents living in Westbury and Claremont now not only have to contend with gang violence but also go without power for long stretches of time. This is because City Power has temporarily withdrawn its employees and technicians from the area due to gang violence.
The people of Westbury and Claremont are already victims due to poor government services; they are victims because their suburbs are overrun with gangsters and violence, and they are now further victimised by being without electricity for long periods because of the withdrawal of City Power officials.
To further inflame the situation politicians from populist and xenophobic parties such as the Patriotic Alliance propose that their members go to these suburbs to “protect” the City Power technicians as they do their work. How can one send untrained people into volatile situations such as this?
If anything goes wrong, Gayton McKenzie will have to take responsibility for innocent people being hurt or, even worse, killed. Then you have politicians like Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, who in his endeavour to ensure his empty electoral promises undertakes to provide 6,000 crime wardens, six helicopters, 180 drones, e-panic buttons and CCTV cameras on every street.
To deal with the policing weaknesses the DA has introduced to the Gauteng provincial legislature the Community Safety Oversight Bill, which would give the MEC more powers and ensure the police have adequate resources to do their jobs.
Alan Fuchs, MPL
DA constituency head: Roodepoort and surrounds
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