Police Minister announces increased policing in Phoenix to improve safety and end vigilante acts
17 Jul 2021
Police Minister, General Bheki Cele says a team of 10 detectives has been assembled to investigate the deaths of 20 people, killed in Phoenix northwest of Durban, during the failed insurrection that saw mass looting and violence in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
80 public order police officers have been deployed to assist local police and work together with members of the South African National Defence Force, to keep all residents and property safe.
Cele has urged Phoenix residents not to allow criminal elements to highjack their efforts of trying to protect themselves.
“Residents have the right to defend themselves within the law, but if we hear that people are being racially profiled at roadblocks set up in the area; were people trying to access Phoenix, including police, are being intimidated, violated and in extreme cases people are being beaten up, and their cars are searched and torched is simply criminal and won’t be tolerated, police will not negotiate with criminals, those who commit these criminal acts will be found and dealt with, regardless of who they are and where they come from.”