Police Minister Bheki Cele.
Photo by Gallo Images / Sowetan / Masi Losi)
- Police Minister Bheki Cele has announced interventions to deal with the ongoing violence in KwaMajola, near Port St Johns, in the Eastern Cape.
- Cele told residents on Monday a request to deploy SANDF members to the area has been made to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- The conflict in villages around KwaMajola have seen 22 people killed and 140 homes razed over the last three years.
Police Minister Bheki Cele says a request to deploy the army to deal with ongoing violence and conflict in villages around KwaMajola, near Port St Johns, in the Eastern Cape has been sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Cele visited the area on Monday.
He announced police tactical units would be deployed to the area, which has been devastated by conflict that is said to date back over six decades.
Over the years, conflict in the area has escalated to acts of violence and crime. At least 22 people have been killed in the last three years, while over 140 homesteads and houses have been razed.
In the latest incident on Friday, the Mthatha Express reported that two pupils from Majali Technical High School were fatally shot in the Siqhozameni Locality, Majola Administrative Area.
They were shot on their way home after visiting their friends.
Police Minister Bheki Cele held a community engagement in Majola Village.
Police Minister Bheki Cele held a community engagement in Majola Village.
Supplied SAPS/Lirandzu Themba
Cele and national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola also visited the area on Sunday in an effort to find a solution to the fighting plaguing the area.
On Monday, Cele addressed the affected villagers about their concerns. He assured them their complaints were being dealt with at the highest level. He said a request had been sent to the president to deploy the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to support the police in the area.
“Majola village cannot be a ‘ghost town’ where villagers are terrorised by thugs and fear for their lives to such an extent that they opt to live in bushes [rather] than in their own homes. We will put an end to this; hence we are bringing some of our best men and women to bring stability and peace to this village as we wait to hear if the army will be deployed,” he said.
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Cele added that with more officers and army personnel on the ground, they would go “toe-to-toe with these criminals hellbent on preying on the most vulnerable members of our society”.
Members of the Tactical Response Team and National Intervention Unit will be deployed within the week to affected areas of the villages.
The intervention will be accompanied by the deployment of a team of detectives to assist with the police investigations in the area.
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