‘Cops, do your job or collect a body’
Residents of a Cape Flats neighbourhood say they will burn criminals just like the people of Masiphumelele.
|||Cape Town - Residents of a Cape Flats neighbourhood say they are sick and tired of crime and will burn criminals just like the people of Masiphumelele.
Chaos erupted in Westlake on Monday night when residents clashed with police who arrived to rescue two suspected thieves from their clutches.
The community were about to set the suspects alight when police intervened.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut said officers arrived shortly before 7pm to find a group of about 100 residents gathered at the Westlake Taxi Association office.
“They locked up two persons, who were recently arrested for robbery, inside a container and allegedly threatened to set the container alight.
“Police immediately responded in order to try and contain the situation, and removed the two persons being held in the container by force.
“This caused the community to become riotous by throwing stones at the police officers and their vehicles.
“A police officer was hit on his head with a stone and a police vehicle was seriously damaged,” he said.
Traut said that the officers then retaliated by firing warning shots, and managed to disperse the crowds.
An unidentified woman was allegedly struck by a rubber bullet, leaving the hard pellet stuck in her calf.
Residents helped remove the small blue bullet from her leg.
Locals say they have been troubled by an increase in robberies in their area and decided to deal with the matter just as the residents of Masiphumelele have.
Four people have been beaten and burnt to death in Masiphumelele in the last month as residents target thieves, rapists and drug dealers they claim police are failing to deal with.
Westlake resident, Thandikhaya Dlekedla, 35, said: “This is a quiet community but lately robberies are spiking, people are getting robbed during the day, houses are broken into and the foreigners are the biggest targets.
“Last week the community got together to discuss what to do and they decided to get the taxi drivers involved.
“So on Sunday they took this one troublemaker called Jazz to Philippi but on the way there he escaped and was back in Westlake the same day.
“On Monday afternoon we heard he had robbed someone and then people got upset.
“Jazz and his friend were found and taken to the taxi rank and locked inside a container.
“Trouble began when police arrived and residents stoned their car, if they hadn’t acted quickly and removed those people they would have been burnt.
“People are angry here and want the police to do their jobs or else they will have to collect a body.”
Colonel Traut said one person was arrested for malicious damage to property.
Daily voice