Westbury residents say police are in the pockets of drug dealers

Residents of Westbury in Johannesburg have blamed the increased level of gang-related murders in the community on corrupt police officers who they say are in the pockets of drug dealers in the area.

They claim that gangsters openly ply their trade, as they are protected by certain police officers.

Two months ago, Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the community where he announced the deployment of a specialised police task team in the area to deal with gang violence and crime.

Outraged residents have called on Cele, to reshuffle the entire police station.

“It is a disgrace, we want a reshuffle from head down. We want a complete reshuffle in our police station. They are not doing their jobs and they are failing us. They are working with our gangsters and drug dealers in the community. So, we want a complete change.”

“We want to see new faces every three months, new police must be coming in, we want a complete change at our local police station,” say disgruntled residents.

Residents of Westbury and Eldorado Park living in fear as gangs, crime take chokehold: