Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) deputy president Floyd Shivambu says police visibility and conducting regular raids in hotspots where guns are used can help to alleviate crime levels in areas like New Brighton in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
The EFF led a march against crime from Kwazakhele to the New Brighton Police Station in Gqeberha today.
Shivambu says a proactive approach needs to be employed to curb crime.
“We must know where the crime hotspots are and the majority of the community is the taverns and the shebeens and all times there must be police visibility in those areas. And we are also demanding that there must be searches on areas where they are suspecting that there are firearms and guns. Because we can’t have communities where they’ve got a lot of firearms,” explains Shivambu.
Residents and EFF supporters, who were part of the march, say life has become very hard in Gqeberha due to high crime levels.
“There is a lot of shooting that is happening in this area, and we just don’t know where this is coming from. Because it’s difficult to get a gun licence but there is a lot of [illegal firearms] roaming around in the streets.”
“We are not safe, this place is no longer a friendly city. We live in crime, we can’t even be on our phones, they get mugged and we can’t even send kids to the shop as they get robbed,” add some of the community members.
[IN PICTURES]: DP @FloydShivambu leading an anti-crime march in Gqeberha.
The EFF government will determine the number of police officers to be allocated to a station in relation to the number of people within the station’s catchment area. And also employ an additional 100,000… pic.twitter.com/LUZdkY8PqF
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) May 7, 2024
[IN PICTURES]: DP @FloydShivambu outside New Brighton Police Station handing over a memorandum to the station commander, after leading an anti-crime march in Gqeberha.
The EFF government will approach crime fighting with the understanding that crime is a socio-economic issue,… pic.twitter.com/Xxqk1OUpRz
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) May 7, 2024
