Siyabonga Sesant
Police minister Bheki Cele says ministers are not immune when it comes to being attacked by criminals.
This, after Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga and her security detail were robbed on the N3 between Vosloorus and Heidelberg on Monday morning, after they drove over spikes placed on the highway.
They had to stop to change the punctured tyres.
On Friday morning, Cele was part of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster ministers who were briefing the media about the gains made by the country’s law enforcement agencies in recent months.
He said Chikunga's ordeal was being investigated.
“Ministers of the state are part of the society of South Africa and part of the communities they live and these things will happen now and again… It’s not a complete immune thing that people at high-profile levels [will not be attacked]. So, crime, now and again, will remind us that [it happens] across the board,” Cele said.
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Mondise, who was also part of the media briefing, said government had made great strides in protecting citizens against crime.
She also commended the anti-crime unit's achievements in some of the gang-ravaged areas in the country, including the Eastern Cape, over the last six months.
“This unit has arrested 190 people, especially around the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng,” Modise said.
“We know those 190 are involved in at least 145 [gang-related] cases.”
