Police presence beefed up at Westbury protest

More police have been deployed to Westbury on Monday morning where residents have taken to the streets to protest against drugs and gangsterism. 

Last week, there was unrest in the area after a woman was killed and a 10-year-old child injured during a shooting suspected to be gang-related near the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital.

Residents have accused police of being in cahoots with criminals in the area.

The Johannesburg Metro Police Department's Wayne Minaar said officers were on high alert.

“Burning tyres at Perth Road and Portland Street as well as Charles Street in Newlands have been cleared. Officers are on duty in Westbury and so far the roads are still clear except a few roads where a small group of protestors is being addressed by the SAPS,” Minaar said. 

Graham Jegels, a resident said who spoke to Sowetan, accused the police of failing the community and working with drug dealers in the area. 

“The police know about this and they haven’t done anything to stop it. They take bribes from drug dealers. They know where they live; why don’t they search them and arrest them,” he said. 

Johannesburg’s Westbury community was met with police’s tear gas and rubber bullets after they took to the streets in protest against gangsterism and crime in their community on October 1 2018. The protest action came after a woman was shot and killed by a stray bullet on a street in broad daylight, allegedly during a battle between two rival gangs.

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