JOHANNESBURG - Gauteng has requested assistance of the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) in the fight against crime in the province.
The request follows the discovery of the bodies of eight women in the Ekurhuleni area over the past two months.
Speaking during an extensive media briefing on the state of governance in the province, Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the killings in Ekurhuleni highlighted a disturbing trend.
“We have agreed that we have to bring every resource that we have to find the perpetrators because, if we can’t, we will continue to have this anxiety and fear, and people will not believe that the system can protect [them],” Lesufi said.
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An emergency meeting with acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia on Tuesday evening resolved that Kempton Park and surrounding areas should be placed under lockdown.
“Every resource that we have must be deployed there until we’ve got a resolution [on] why we have so many bodies in that region. If we leave it unattended, our credibility as the state will be challenged,” Lesufi said.
Lesufi said the province had mandated Cachalia to engage the relevant ministry to request the SANDF’s assistance.
“They are already in Gauteng; we just have to redefine the roles. We just need an additional resource. The minister is engaging the relevant minister and the president on this one,” he said.
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