Long live Reiger Park, long live the youth of Reiger Park!
These words echoed through the Reiger Park Civic Centre where hundreds of community members gathered for a crime imbizo on January 19 to address recent incidents suspected to be gang violence related.
The meeting was attended by SAPS district commissioner of Ekurhuleni Maj Gen Vincent Leshabane, along with Ekurhuleni central cluster deputy commander Brig Thabo Mphuti, Lieut Col Paul Mathebula, the station commander of Reiger Park SAPS and other station commanders from nearby police stations.
Reiger Park police station’s spokesperson Const Zanele Motaung said the imbizo was arranged after community members wrote to Leshabane to ask him to intervene and come back with a solution that will finally restore peace in the community.
“The general assured that those who are involved in these killings will be found. The police are already on their trail. Mphuti also assured the community that there will be more police visibility as the provincial office has deployed units to work specifically at Reiger Park to combat crime,” Motaung explained.
She added that the imbizo was a great success as community members came in numbers and were happy with the answers they received from the office of the commissioner.
A huge number of concerned Reiger Park residents also congregated at a prayer rally on January 18 to find common ground to tackle certain issues.
Three groups started marching at all points leading into Reiger Park.
According to Reiger Park Community Forum spokesperson David Foster, they sent a strong message to authorities.
“The community wants to feel safe again. In the last three months, we have lost at least one loved one per week and some murders occur during the day.
“We have requested an increase in police visibility on strategic exit points and entry points in the community. “We’ve also asked for an increase in patrols around the hot spots, stop-and-searches and police investigations,” said Foster.
