Residents denounce northern areas violence
A wooden coffin and white crosses symbolising those killed in gang violence conveyed the message that gangsters and drug peddlers were not welcome in the northern areas.
Residents of the crime plagued communities of Gelvandale and Bethelsdorp threw their weight behind a crime awareness roadshow that began at Frank Joubert Primary School in Highfield Road, Schauderville, on Saturday and made stops in Helenvale and Cleary Park before ending in Sapphire Street, Booysen Park.
Messages condemning gangs and drugs emanated from a loudspeaker truck carrying the coffin and crosses.
Vehicles from the police, traffic and ambulance services also formed part of the convoy.
Residents later held the crosses aloft in defiance of the criminal elements that have forced many of them to live like prisoners in their own homes.
The roadshow was organised by the Mount Road cluster community policing forum in partnership with the SAPS, the municipality and NGOs.
Acting cluster board chair Timothy Hendricks said the gang violence and killing were out of control and the community needed to take a stand.
Between April and October, 75 people were gunned down and on average 10 died every month, he said.
“We cannot be ruled by criminals any more. We are saying let’s take back our homes and our streets.”
Gelvandale resident Tercihim Booysen, 25, welcomed the crime awareness initiative and urged law enforcement agents to prosecute those behind the murders. “Crime affects us differently. “Your freedom of movement is taken away. When you board a taxi, people ask where are you from?
“If you say Gelvandale, you get portrayed as gangster. It’s only a few individuals who give us a bad name,” he said.
Mount Road cluster commander Major-General Thembisile Patekile said: “If we stand together, fighting gangs and drugs, there is a future.
“We must remove firearms from society for the sake of the future of our children.”
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