JOHANNESBURG - There are renewed calls for urgent action following a mass shooting in Westbury this week.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia is visiting families of the victims after multiple gunmen opened fire on at least five people during Thursday’s attack.
Two people were killed and several others, including a 15-month-old baby, were injured.
Local councillor, Marilyne Smouse, expressed her disappointment in the SANDF.
"Our community is angry. We are angry. We are tired. Now the other day with the SOPA and all these things - when the president said that he is giving the go-ahead on the army being deployed. We want the army. That is what we are crying for. They need to be deployed immediately to our communities. That is what we are looking forward to and we want more police visibility. We are not fighting with the police, we are not saying the police is not doing their work. But if they can work with us, there is a lot of people that are ready to work with the police so that we can get these perpetrators off our streets."
Acting Police Minister, Firoz Cachalia, says deployment may take longer than expected.
“I think the deployment of the army is the right decision. The deployment will take longer than I expected. So many people are raising concerns about the risks associated with such deployment. Police are trained to do policing - soldiers are not trained to use proportionate force. We want to mange the risks of deployment of the army and we’ve decided that the right thing to do is to focus on their training - rather delay the deployment and manage the risks than rush the deployment.”