Cele blames shebeens for crime!

SHEBEENS are a big problem in Bophelong section, Vaal as the kasi is rated number 25 in the country in terms of crimes reported.

Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the Marikana informal settlement in Bophelong last Friday, 12 April. 

Cele said crime in Bophelong is high because there's too many shebeens, few churches and schools, as well as lack of sports facilities.

“Many taverns tell us that the township is also drunk and nothing good will come out of drunk people. There’s is no way that there can be more taverns and we expect that crime will be less. Bophelong is on top with serious crimes that is not acceptable, and this is because of the many shebeens in the township,” he said.

Fani Masemola, the national police commissioner, said the Bophelong community will receive three new cars, and a police station is on the way. 

“The township doesn’t have a police station where people are able to report, and that is causing crime to be high. Just in a night on Thursday, police confiscated 45 toy guns that are being used in robbing people every day, and as a result, the toy guns are becoming a problem in Bophelong,” he said. 

The minister’s visit was part of an ongoing effort to flush out criminality through the aggressive policing intervention Operation Shanela, which has seen the arrest of over 500 suspects.

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Cele said the focus is on improving community policing by fostering relations between communities and the police. Cele said that from now on, people should be able to open criminal cases at any police station.

Masemola also promised residents of Bophelong that a police station was on the way as the township only uses a satellite cop shop. 

He said they would be leading a series of community izimbizo in some of the country’s high-crime areas.

“The community engagements focus on addressing serious and violent crimes impacting these communities as well as the police’s responses to these crimes,” said Masemola.