CHANGE the police station commander and detective commander in Diepsloot. They failed in their fiduciary duties.
These were the words of forensic and crime expert Calvin Rafadi.
This after the residents of Diepsloot, north of Joburg have been complaining for years about high levels of crime in their area.
The residents have been calling for the permanently sending of Amabherethe and South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members to curb crime. The community representatives visited the Union Buildings a few months ago hoping to meet President Cyril Ramaphosa, but crime has been escalating.
Five accused linked to the burning and killing of seven people in December 2023 in a mob attack are currently applying for bail in court.
Joburg district commissioner General Max Masha recently said crime statistics show that 92 people have been killed from March 2023 to April 2023.
This was 22 more than in 2021 during the same period in the area. He further said there were 754 cases of grievous bodily harm cases during this period.
Talking to Daily Sun, Rafadi said fortunes can change if top cops at the cop shop are removed because they've failed.
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“The main role of this commander is to collect all crime data, especially from community members and process same to crime intelligence and organised crime units to act accordingly. So, therefore, it simply shows that they have no understanding of how to resolve crime in their response areas,” he said.
Rafadi said that the deployment of SANDF could be another solution.
“We would also like to see deployed SANDF troops and other law enforcement agencies even after the Christmas festive season because currently, most of Diepsloot-affected community members have traveled to their other homes and countries,' he said.
Two weeks ago, Defence Minister Thandi Modise pointed out that there was a bigger conversation had about police making arrests but the courts letting people go.
Rafadi said a lifestyle audit of officials working in courts should be done.
“There should be serious observations on court officials, such as magistrates and personal assistants. These are the people who handle charge sheets and when people are buying cases, they're the people they get hold of,” he said.
