Zandspruit: Cele visits community, as the ‘mob justice’ death toll rises to 8
The death toll after the extreme mob justice incident in Zandspruit, Gauteng, has risen to eight after two more boys succumbed to their injuries on Saturday, 22 May.
The nine boys were reportedly rounded up by about 200 members of the community, taken to a sports field, where they were assaulted and set on fire by community members who accused them of wreaking havoc in the area.
Four boys died at the scene on Wednesday, three more passed away in hospital and the sole survivor remains in a critical condition. Six suspects have been arrested for their involvement in the brutal murders, so far, and the police vowed that more would follow.
Police Minister Bheki Cele, along with provincial Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko and provincial police commissioner Elias Mawela, visited Zandspruit on Saturday to address the community’s concerns and promise that justice will be served.
WATCH: CELE VISITS ZANDSPRUIT
Cele and his contingent first received a full briefing about the vigilante killings and the progress made on the case before engaging with the Zandspruit community’s leadership structures to get an understanding of why residents decided to take the law into their own hands, according to his spokesperson Lirandzu Themba.
Residents, including members of the local Community Policing Forum, expressed their concerns about safety and the policing of the area. They called out the Honeydew Police Station, which is supposed to serve the Zandspruit community, for its poor service.
Zandspruit residents accused police of corruption and blatantly ignoring their requests at times. In the meeting, some of the community members suggested that the death of the boys could have been avoided if police responded on time.
Later, Cele addressed the Zandspruit community, as a whole, at the same sports field where the boys were murdered. He told those gathered in the crowd that he “is convinced” that they deserve better service delivery.
“There is no doubt police in this area have many challenges due to the ever increasing population size and poor living conditions that impede on crime fighting efforts, however some of the problems faced by the police are self-made,” said Cele.
The Minister ordered a probe into why it took the police to respond to the incident on Wednesday and called for heads to roll, according to Themba. The police said a task team has been established to examine the problems identified in the Honeydew station as well as cold cases.
“It’s really disheartening to hear that calls were made to the police while the youngsters were still alive but police vans took hours to respond, so that’s why I have asked the provincial Commisioner to get to the bottom of these claims and I expect answers in the coming days.”
Cele promised the Zandspruit community that he would return within a month to report back to them about what SAPS has done to improve the police station’s performance and service delivery.
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