The police and Kathorus residents are working together to bring peace to the townships, reports Mduduzi ka Harvey
FOR East Rand policeman Godfrey “Godfather” Maditsi (34), Thokoza was once a place where he feared to tread — with police targeted by self-defence unit youths at the height of political violence in the 1980s, harassed by hostel dwellers and hunted down by criminals for their weaponry.
But now, as peace reigns in the township, Maditsi and other police feel safe mingling with residents. This is a result of efforts by both police and community members to overcome social and political barriers by staging community policing forums.
Although the police have a new- found freedom in the community, there are residents who believe the police are still biased and serving the interests of the past government: “The senior police are still the same people who promoted violence before. How can we expect them to have changed overnight?” asked one resident.
And although police are no longer targets of political violence, criminal elements still pose a threat to their safety.
In June last year Maditsi and friends were cruising through Thokoza, spending a weekend off duty, when they were fired upon at random. “We had done nothing wrong. We did not know the men firing at us, but I suspect we were being shot because we were policemen,” he said.
He spent four months in Natalspruit Hospital after he was shot twice in the hip. Although the culprits were not apprehended, he does not have hard feelings: “Those are issues of the past. We are now happy to work with the same people who were shooting at us before.”
Peace has not come overnight to Kathorus (Katlehong, Thokoza and Vosloorus). It has followed negotiations between different political groups, civics and grassroots people and the new government’s decision that a new system of policing was needed to curb the escalating violence.
In June Maditsi joined a group of local policemen selected to undergo training at World Trade Centre in new policing methods. The group had to undertake to be totally impartial in dealing with the community, not to discriminate on any basis, to be courteous to the public, to deliver the best possible service and to be accountable to the community.
The next step was to sell the idea to residents. He ex- plains: “There was a police image problem. The people’s attitude towards us had to be changed. The community had to accept us.”
At seminars and workshops, police sold themselves to the public, while the public gave some input on how the police could operate in a manner that would give them credibility in the community.
Community suggestions included visible policing which would help curb the free activity of criminals in the township; transparency — where the public would be assured the police have nothing to hide — impartiality, showing that the police were not taking sides in conflicts between residents and hostel dwellers; and acc- ountability, whereby the police would publicly account for their actions.
“After a series of meetings we eventually formed three community policing forums in Thokoza-Phola Park, Katlehong and Vosloorus. This was only possible because people were sick and tired of violence and death. There was a willingness from people from all walks of the community to carve a peaceful way forward for our area,” said Maditsi.
The changed mindset of the police and the community, combined with plans to inject R645-million of reconstruction and development programme money over five years to develop Kathorus, helped forge a way forward for peace.
Maditsi feels the basis of the way forward was the change in attitude of the police: “You see, before the elections the police were serving the interests of the government, but now we are serving the interests of the community. That is why we now have communication channels with the people and it’s simpler to talk to each other.”
It was because of this change in attitude that crime declined, he said: “Crimes like murder and armed robbery were rife and no one was willing to give information, but now that we are working together people are coming forward. Now, they are helping us solve the rape and drugs problems.”
All is not smooth sailing for the police. The township, because of the unemployment and poverty caused by the violence, has become a den for criminals and gangs who intimidate and harass the public. Residents explain that even if they know the culprits it is difficult to report them lest they take revenge.
The community policing forum Maditsi attends in Thokoza meets every Wednesday to discuss the future of Thokoza and the planning of safety and security in the township. There is also an ongoing campaign to sell the idea of community policing to more residents.
Residents also feel the forums have a greater role to play. For Phola Park resident Susan Mhlongo the forum should help in solving the breakdown of family values in the area: “Our children run around in an undisciplined manner. As parents we can’t dare chastise them out of fear of intimidation or assault, but if we can combine our efforts with the police we might solve this problem.”
Themba Vilakazi from Kwesine hostel sees the forum as a platform for changing the youth’s attitude of “liberation before education”.
“This attitude is the cause of unemployment in the area, which has created the rise in criminal violence. What the forums must look at are ways of involving the lost children in projects which will keep them busy and gainfully employed.”
For Thokoza’s Morongwa Sejanamane, the forum can play an important role in curbing gang violence: “There are bad elements out there who have forced children to turn against the community and if we as parents dont help the police solve this problem, it will definitely grow.”
For those residents who are sceptical of the forums, there is a feeling that police in the area have not totally succeeded in making the township a gun-free one. A resident said: “There are still a lot of guns around. Even during gun amnesty week the guns that were handed over were very few. Some were old and useless. We still hear gunfire occasionally.”
Of great concern to residents is the behaviour of the reservist unit, comprising 225 former members of ANC- aligned self-defence units and Inkatha Freedom Party- aligned self-protection units. The reservist unit was formed after the elections to assist police in the township. Many feel members of the unit behave in an unprofessional manner and tend to think they are above the law.
Top of the forums’ agenda is to solve the teething problems of this unit. Maditsi refused to comment on these problems, calling them “domestic issues”.
The head of Community Policing in the Witwatersrand, Colonel Charles Dyke, said there was still a long way to go and progress would be determined by the upcoming Police Act expected sometime next year. “It will have to provide for some form of funding for the forums, so we can set up offices and employ personnel to work fulltime. We will also need clarity about whether the forums will have the capacity to act and handle their own financial issues.”