Residents of Eersterust in Tshwane marched to their local police station on Monday in protest regarding the death of local resident Naylan Smith who was hijacked and killed on Friday 11 April this year.
Smith’s hijacked car was found abandoned in Mamelodi Gardens, East of Mamelodi.
He was hijacked while leaving his home in Eersterust in the morning.
His friend Reanu Mason was shot in the leg and arm while trying to rescue him from the hijackers and is currently in hospital.
Residents of Eersterus protesting at a local police station photo by Dimakatso Modipa
Residents of Eersterus protesting at a local police station photo by Dimakatso Modipa
Residents of Eersterust have blamed the City of Tshwane Municipality for the murder; insisting that the fact street lights are not working in the area has contributed to Naylan Smith’s murder.
The irate residents also lamented lack of police visibility as a contributing factor to the killing of Naylan Smith.
Now to register their grievances regarding Smith’s murder and general crime which is rampant in Eersterust, the Eersterust residents handed a memorandum of grievances to their local police station commander.
Eersterust resident Mobeen Davis, who was part of the crowd that handed the memorandum of grievances to the police station commander, said the following:
“We are here today because of crime and lack of service delivery in Eersterust and most importantly we are here because we lost a young life once again in the community of Eersterust and at the moment our community of Eersterust is very angry and upset; we feel that the police and all people who are in positions of power must come out and tell us what their intentions are regarding the present state of affairs in Eersterust.”
He added that “the community has been crying, trying to reach out to those in power and complaining formally but there is no change in the area.”
He said the police must do their job and the Councillors must also do their job because if there were lights in the area then the thugs who came to hijack Naylan Smith would have been visible to the general public and would not have robbed and killed him last Friday.
He also pointed out that he is paying for his Municipal services yet water and electricity is cut on a weekly basis in Eersterust.
He said the Eersterust Police Station Commander doesn’t take them seriously and he then asked whether they as residents must burn and close the roads before they can be taken seriously.
An Eersterust lady resident Dominique Manuel told Tshwane Talks that it was very sad that they as the community of Eersterust had to come out and fight for their rights.
“Why should it take a life for the residents of Eersterust to wake up and take action,” she asked.
She added that besides protesting over Naylan Smith’s death, the protest march was non-working street lights and poor infrastructure in Eersterust.
“We do not feel safe in our own community and we are saying that if there is light then there will be less crime and if there is darkness then people will be vulnerable to attacks,” she said.
A local Ward Councillor Benjamin Lawrence pointed out that it doesn’t look good for the City of Tshwane to switch on lights only after somebody has lost his life and pointed out that residents are complaining about lack of police presence in the area.
“If we had a proper Community Policing Forum working together with the police then that would help in fighting against crime,” he said.
He insisted that duties of the Tshwane Metro Police Department are focused on those who infringe by-laws and that fighting crimes like murder and hijacking are duties which must be carried out by the South African Police Services (SAPS).
Residents of Eersterus protesting at a local police station photo by Dimakatso Modipa
“As a Councillor there is no way I can keep quiet as a Councillor and do nothing about issues that affect the community because there are people in the community who can hold us accountable,” he said.
Station Commander of the Eersterust Police Station Colonel Sipho Msiza told the protestors that he has been the station commander of the police station since September 2023.
“I am always available at the Eersterust Police Station and 75% of you know me because I believe in an open-door policy and residents can come to my office when they encounter problems, so to those who are seeing me for the first I am saying you may invite me to your own spaces as long as we are going to address issues of crime,” said Colonel Msiza as he accepted the memorandum submitted to him by the residents.
He revealed that two suspects have been arrested in connection with Naylan Smith’s murder and that both suspects are not from Eersterust.