Serious crimes such as murders, robberies, substance abuse and domestic violence are raising some concerns and drawing a lot of condemnation from the Langa community.
On Friday July 27, concerned residents, and police, took to the streets to take a stand against crime in the area.
Residents, some carrying flags, distributed pamphlets to passers-by and onlookers, urging them to be part of the fight against crime. They stopped at the notorious drinking spots, including one opposite the taxi rank, and shouted “phantsi ngobundlobongela and phantsi ngotywala neziyobisi,” which loosely translates to “down with crime, down with drugs and substance abuse”. Residents alleged that the shebeen contributed to crime because of its long operating hours. They stood in front of it prompting the owners to close the doors and windows.
They also appealed to the government and the police to initiate strong anti-crime initiatives.
Police spokesperson, Captain Nondumiso Paul, said she was delighted that residents had taken up the fight against crime. She said police had been calling for a united effort to root out crime and called on everyone to stand together and identify criminals’ hiding places.
“This is a good start for this community. We can only fight crime when we are this united. This is what we have been encouraging, residents to be at the forefront of the fight against crime. We welcome the support from the community, neighbourhood watches and local leaders,” she said.
Captain Paul said she hoped that awareness-raising events like this one would have an impact on the community and promised there would be more of them in the near future. “There has been a problem of substance abuse, especially by young people. We have experienced different kinds of crimes but substance abuse by youths seem to be on the rise,” she said. “We are happy when the community also notices that. This is how we are going to fight crime.”
Resident, Monde Gwayi, said he was excited to see people united in the fight against crime. “Residents took too long to realise how bad crime was in Langa. They have taken too long to march on the streets. The next step is to confront drug dealers and shebeens. We need to go straight to them and tell them enough is enough,” he said.
One businesswoman who runs a meat stand and who asked not to be named for fear of harassment said often businesses were robbed but nothing was done about it. She, however, commended the step taken by the community and the police. “Maybe now that the community has risen up, police will also be more efficient,” she said.