Cape Town - Frustrated Steenberg residents have once again slammed their local policing precincts Steenberg and Muizenberg for allegedly being complicit in ongoing criminal activities in areas surrounding their community.
On Thursday, a group of about 100 residents marched through the community of Steenberg, calling for peace and an end to the ongoing gang violence.
The march was organised by local community leaders, councillors and activists who drafted a memorandum of demands to hand over to Community Safety and Police Oversight (CSPO) MEC Reagen Allen.
Steenberg councillor Marita Petersen said: “Our memorandum is clear.
“We are placing a motion of no confidence in both SAPS stations.
“We have shootings in our areas almost every day.
“There’s no clear operational plan or even a prevention plan.
“Both stations need to work together because most of our murders and crime emanate from our boundaries.”
Among the demands listed in the memorandum, Petersen said residents are calling for their policing precincts to be upgraded to brigadier stations to be led by a brigadier with Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) experience.
Residents also want SAPS staff to be increased to complement the population, dedicated gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) desks, and permanent integration AGU.
Steenberg community leader Nadia Satarien said: “I firmly believe that if the current management is removed we will be able to put in place plans to address crime.
“Currently, the trust between communities and the two stations.”
“I’m also not pointing the finger at all our officers, but the pattern of management proves that they cannot be trusted.
“The crime intelligence here is pathetic,” Satarien said.
The death of Steenberg resident and taxi driver Shahiem Abdurahman, 40, almost two weeks ago was also mentioned as one of the catalysts for the march.
Abdurahman’s mother Rashieda Kenny, 62, said her son was shot while standing at a red traffic light with a taxi full of passengers.
Kenny’s sister Fadiela Dien, 64, said the system was failing Steenberg residents.
Dien said: “They arrested someone, only to let them go a few days later because no witnesses could come forward.
“While it's frustrating who would come here, people are scared, and the system does not protect witnesses.
“They have failed us it’ll be better if they go.”
Allen, accompanied by the precinct’s cluster commander received the memorandum.
Allen said: “I am concerned about the levels of under-resourcing, manpower in our visible and detectives units and how we are seeing a systematic erosion of resources allocated to the province.”
Allen said the department can now directly engage the provincial commissioner and request that he open up an investigation into the claims being laid against the stations.