FRIDAY, 6.00PM
The agreement reached on Thursday between Gauteng Democratic Party leader Peter Leon and new Johannesburg police area commissioner Isak Pretorius that all six entrances to Alexandra township will be blockaded by police and army has drawn sharp reaction from safety and security MEC Jessie Duarte.
Reacting “with utter dismay and serious concern” to reports of the agreement, Duarte described it as “a flagrant violation of policy and procedure with far-reaching implications for policing”, that a police commissioner could come to a private agreement with a political party.
Leon said the measure is aimed at protecting law-abiding residents of Alex. “Most of Alexandra’s 600 000 residents are law-abiding citizens and simply unable to afford high walls, alarm systems, electronic gates and other preventive measures,” said Leon. Alexandra is home to many of the violent gangs conducting a reign of terror against residents of Johannesburg’s affluent northern suburbs.
Duarte said in a statement the DP and the area commissioner must answer why the proposed plan was not tabled with police management, how it fitted in with the provincial plan of introducing sectoral policing, and why the plan is mainly focused on protecting white areas.
“We welcome suggestions for further improvement at all times, however we reject this plan. It smacks of racial discrimination and political manipulation,” Duarte said.
The fact that it was not done through proper procedures set up by police management was a gross violation of policy procedures agreed upon, she said. “We need to ensure that service delivery and use of all resources is provided adequately for all the communities,” Duarte said.
She added that measures aimed at maximising safety and security around Johannesburg, including Alexandra, are already in place, involving police and the SANDF. “This is yielding results as serious crime has gone down or stabilised in Johannesburg as well as Gauteng in general in the last six months,” Duarte said. She has called for an urgent meeting with the provincial police commissioner Sharma Maharaj to look into the matter.