MAUNDE STREET BROUGHT TO A STANDSTILL AS RESIDENTS DEMAND REMOVAL OF POLICE STATION’S MANAGEMENT

Maunde Street in Atteridgeville, which is where the local SAPS police station is situated, was brought to a standstill on Monday morning as irate residents of Saulsville and Atteridgeville marched to the said precinct to demand the removal of the station’s management.

Maunde Street is the biggest road in Atteridgeville and due to the march, several motorists had to use alternative routes when trying to either leave the township or go into it.

The hundreds of protesting marchers said the management of the Atteridgeville police station is useless and that it’s management must therefore be fired from work.

Different organisations came to support the peaceful march such as Abahambe civic movements, Phele joint civic, Operation Dudula, EFF, MKP, PAC, Progressive Concern Civic (PCC) and SANCO.

Community leader Emmanuel Sebata revealed that the march to the police station had been planned a long time ago before the recent massacre whereby 25 people were shot at the Saulsville hostel, resulting in 12 among them losing their lives while several others were badly-injured and are still in hospital.

“The Massacre at the Saulsville hostel vindicated our long-held assertion that crime has gotten out of hand in our area and that the Atteridgeville police station management is largely responsible for such a situation as perpetrators of crime are rarely arrested,” fumed Sebata.

“We want visible policing, we want raids to be conducted frequently and on top of that we want people committing murders in Saulsville and Atteridgeville to be arrested,” said Sebata.

“Since 2002 we haven’t been receiving any service to speak of from this police station and we know that as the police management is useless at this station, no one is going to be arrested for the ongoing killings that have been taking place in our community until now,” he said.

Sebata lamented the fact that there was a fully-fledged new brick -and- mortar police station in Saulsville which was demolished without having ever served the community and that reasons for the demolition of the police station have up to now not been disclosed to the residents.

“There was also a mobile police station in Sector 1 of our area but it has also since been removed for reasons that have not been communicated to us as residents,” he said.

Tshwane District Police Commissioner Brigadier Samuel Thine received the memorandum/petition from the determined residents, who ordered him to respond within 14 days.

Atteridgeville Ward 62 Councillor Esther Masuku said the following:

“As ward councillors we are the ones bearing the brunt whenever the community is angry, especially regarding issues of crime and we therefore support the protest march as we want the police to see the urgency that is required in dealing with crime and also incidents of murder and drug-dealing in our community,” she said.

She also supported the call for the removal of the present management of the Atteridgeville police station as they are continuing to receive government salaries yet they are doing nothing regarding the crime situation in the community.

“Atteridgeville and Saulsville have become crime-ridden areas; and this is something that we were not used to,” lamented Councillor Masuku.

“My promise is that I will look at your demands and what you demand is what you will get at the end of the day; your memorandum will be taken to the higher echelons of the SAPS like the provincial and national structures and those demands which require intervention at district level shall be attended to by myself,” said Brigadier Thine to the protestors upon receiving their grievances.

Thine promised that the residents of Saulsville and Atteridgeville will from now start seeing police visibility and raids, as well as stop-and search operations.

“We don’t tolerate criminality and as the SAPS we don’t tolerate corrupt police officers and wherever you see corruption perpetrated by any officers please call me on my personal cellphone numbers which are 082 416 3701 and we promise you that all the people who have committed crimes including murder in the Saulsville/ Atteridgeville area shall be hunted down by the police, and I am appealing to you as residents to also actively help us as the police in the fight against crime,” said Brigadier Thine to much applause by the marchers.

Copy of Memorandum:
final memorandum