THE new Gugulethu Police Station commander, Colonel Cyril Nkuna, has warned criminals to stay out of his kasi or face the consequences.
The cop shop has a new commander after a spate of mass killings and extortion-related crimes reported in the area.
Nkuna took over from former station commander Brigadier Nokuthula Pete on 3 October.
In a week preceding the appointment of Nkuna, five people were shot and killed in Fenqe Street in KTC on 25 September.
Four days later on 29 September, five other people, including Warrant Officer Lindela Mraqisa - who was a bodyguard to deputy Minister of Police Cassel Mathale, were also murdered.
“We are saying, as the management, that Gugulethu is not a playground for criminals. Criminals must go and do their stuff somewhere else,” Nkuna told Daily Sun.
He said he had hit the ground running since he had worked at the cop shop before being transferred to head Atlantis cop shop in 2021.
Nkuna said with a few adjustments he made on arrival, he was already seeing some results.
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“Since I started, we haven't had double murders, triple murders and so on, but there are murders that are happening in different places. Some do happen at our hotspots, but it has come down in our hotspots. So that means the crime is shifting from where it was concentrated,” he said.
Nkuna said they were getting support from the province in terms of extra deployment.
Crime, especially extortion and murder, has been on the rise in the Gugulethu area.
Recently, the City of Cape Town suspended rubbish removal services after workers were told by gangs to either leave the area or pay to remove garbage in the area.
Despite the increasing crime situation in the area, Nkuna said he didn’t think twice about returning to Gugulethu.
“Gugulethu is like my second home because I’ve been here for seven years before I left for Atlantis, so I know the area. I worked here as the VISPOL (visible policing) commander. I was working for years.
“Several station commanders would come and leave me here, and I would carry the station until another person was appointed. For me, I didn’t find it difficult because I know the area. I know the dynamics,” said Nkuna.
