THE launch of Operation Wanya Tsotsi in Marikana squatter camp in Bophelong, Vaal turned ugly on Sunday morning, 8 October.
This after angry community members chased away Community Safety MEC, Faith Mazibuko, the police and Amapanyaza with stones.
Mazibuko was in the area to launch Operation Wanya Tsotsi and went to all hotspots and shacks suspected of selling drugs.
They also searched people in the streets, but things turned ugly after crime prevention wardens and community patrollers confiscated a hooker pipe from some boys sitting at a street corner.
This allegedly angered the owner of the hooker pipe, who become violent and insulted the MEC.
When the boy became violent, crime prevention wardens tried to arrest him, but he was handcuffed on one hand. The boy was then dragged to where Mazibuko was, but this once again angered community members who attacked the group of wardens.
Gauteng traffic police then overpowered them as they took the boy. However, community members started throwing stones at them, forcing Mazibuko and the police to run for safety.
Lerato Pheha from community safety said this was not the first time they experienced lawlessness in squatter camps around Bophelong.
She said it works that government wants to bring operations that will help to fight crime in squatter camps as crime is very high.
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"But we always get bad treatment from residents and we were forced to run for cover so that no one gets injured. The police unit that deals with riots was called to calm the situation," she said.
She added that they took the hooker pipe as the boys who were smoking it were under age and tobacco laws don't allow anyone under age to use tobacco.
"Community patrollers and other stakeholders will have a meeting with the community to firstly recover the handcuffs that the boy got away with when he was rescued by community members from crime prevention wardens and to also have a way forward of working with communities to fight crime instead of being on each other's the wrong side," she said.
