/ 2 June 1997

Sierra Leone army attacks Nigerian peacekeepers

PAGAD MARCHFIVE HUNDRED members of People Against Gangsterism and Drugs marched on Caledon Square police station on Saturday, in an appeal to police to work harder to fight crime. Police stopped the march twice, to remove some marchers’ face masks, as this is illegal.

A house in Athlone, in the Cape Flats region, was bombed by two petrol bombs at midnight on Sunday. Damage is estimated at R60 000, and police are investigating.

BUSHBUCKRIDGEVIOLENCE erupted in Bushbuckridge again this weekend, when a truck, a school and the offices of the SA National Civics Organisation were torched by angry protesters. Ntsie Primary School sustained damage estimated at R600000. No suspects have been arrested, and police have appealed to the community not to destroy any more property.

SAFETY PROJECTSSAFETY and security secretary Azhar Cachalia told a gathering of all the National Assembly committees on South African criminal justice on Monday, that the national crime prevention strategy (NCPS) has launched more than two dozen crime-prevention projects launched during the past year. These include a new integrated fingerprint system, tighter prison security, and better bail administration. He said a number of projects combatting top-priority crimes are also under way.