GANGSTERISM in Ekurhuleni is creeping in.
This was revealed by Ekurhuleni Finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga during the memorial service of Simnikiwe Mapini at Germiston City Hall on Wednesday, 13 December.
Simnikiwe died in a hail of bullets near the Rand Airport while travelling with a colleague on Friday, 8 December.
According to Ekurhuleni municipal spokesman Zweli Dlamini, Simnikiwe and his colleague had stopped at a red robot when two armed men got out of another vehicle and opened fire on him before speeding off.
Dunga said: “We've seen a lot of gangsterism, particularly in recently appointed contracts of security where now gangs go to the contractors and remove them from the site.
“We've also seen in waste with this waste collection where all assets and trucks and staff members are going in to provide the services, and you have subcontractors who have no relationship with City of Ekurhuleni coming in to stop our workers and trucks from working.”
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He said they feel this is just a continuation of that particular criminal element that is creeping in.
“We need to find a way of trying to ramp down and close down," he said.
Dunga said that it’s not inspiring from an element of government when you note that there were more than 6 000 murders in 2023, especially in Gauteng. He said out of the murder cases, 35% of them were in the City of Ekurhuleni.
He said almost 600 dead bodies were found in Ekurhuleni.
“The City of Ekurhuleni is number one in terms of unresolved crimes of murder in particular, so the chances of this being a cold case based on statistics of the South African Police Services are as high.
“If people like former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa can just die and still there's no recourse and no justice until this day, you and I, and Simnikiwe are nobody," he said.
He said they will try to follow up on the case.
“Simnikiwe was a young 32-year-old highly gifted individual who was extremely professional. It's sad to lose a calibre of that person in Ekurhuleni, particularly as we attempt to do a service turnaround strategy, not only in the supply chain, but also in the financial,” he said.
