SAPS
Police management said members of the Tactical Response Team and National Intervention Unit would be deployed within the week to Majola Villages around Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape which has been affected by ongoing violence.
The deployments follow a visit to the area on Sunday by Police Minister Bheki Cele, who promised to end what he said was a decades-old “reign of terror” against the people of Majola.
In a statement, the Police Ministry added that “the intervention will be accompanied by the deployment of a team of additional detectives to assist with the police investigations in the area.”
SAPS said the rural area has been ridden by conflict, “said to date back over six decades,” which left 22 people dead over the past three years.
“As an intervention to restore stability to the area, tactical units of the South African Police Service will be deployed to the rural area, which has been riddled by the conflict that’s said to date back over six decades,” the Ministry said.
“The conflict has, over the years, escalated to acts of violence and crime; incidents of arson and murder have resulted in the burning down of over 140 homesteads and houses.”
“Criminal acts have also displaced scores of families, leaving women and children destitute and many resorting to leaving their homes and seeking refuge in nearby bushes.”
The Ministerial intervention saw meetings held over two days with affected villagers, community and traditional leadership structures as well as various other stakeholders in the provincial government.
Minister Cele on Monday addressed the affected villagers on their crime concerns during a community engagement, assuring them that their complaints are being dealt with, at the highest level.
“A request to the President to deploy the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to support the SAPS in the area has been made,” the Minister said.
