BOKSBURG - Violence continues to plague communities, even after the deployment of the army and specialised police units.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said even more resources are being directed to gang-affected areas.
He was speaking at a briefing following the murder of two civilians and two police officers in Reiger Park on Friday night.
"The government and the police service have been trying to respond. We allocated over a billion rand to support policing of areas affected by gang violence. And why? Because we know that our communities, if they don't have safety and security, our communities cannot flourish, cannot make progress.
“So safety and security is not negotiable. I am determined to try and get this problem under control, but it's not going to be easy. We're giving the resources that are needed to the police. We are deploying the army as a temporary measure because the army is not the solution,” Cachalia said.
The two Anti-Gang Unit officers killed in Reiger Park on Friday night were just 27 and 28 years old.
“ We're talking about the killing of two police officers, one twenty-seven years old and the other twenty-eight years old Constable Sibeko and Constable Tamatsani Who joined the police service two years ago.
“It's clear from the briefing that I got that what we're dealing with here is a brutal slaying, a merciless killing of two young police officers. I'm extremely angry about what has happened
“So these gangs are not happy with destroying our families, destroying our communities, destroying our young people, robbing them of their futures, and now they've gone a step further to confront those, to murder those who are trying to keep the community safe. As far as I'm concerned, this is intolerable,” he said.