The fight against crime in Alexandra north of Johannesburg has received a boost with an additional 66 Metro Police officers being deployed to the township.
Six people were shot and killed including Alex FM music compiler Joshua Mbatha in Alexandra last month.
During a crime imbizo held two days later residents told Police Minister Bheki Cele about poor police visibility including inefficiencies at the local police station.
Johannesburg Community Safety MMC David Tembe says the officers will boost the police personnel already deployed in the area.
“In total, we are going to have 170 [officers]. Because already they had 90 officers. The issue is about crime. We want to be visible [when we are] dealing with the issues of bylaws, crime prevention and traffic management,” adds Tembe.
Meanwhile, in July, Gauteng police arrested two suspects who were alleged to have been selling firearms and ammunition to alleged criminals in Alexandra and Cosmo City.
The suspects were found in possession of more than twenty rounds of ammunition and four unlicensed firearms.
The suspects were arrested following a tip-off about people who are dealing in illegal firearms in Alexandra and Cosmo City.
An intelligence-driven operation was conducted where the police pounced on the identified houses.
The video below from July is reporting about more police deployment in Alexandra:
