Police Minister Bheki Cele was met by angry Finetown residents following Saturday night's shooting that claimed six lives. Residents said that the suspects allegedly tried to rob a vendor selling grilled chicken "chicken dust"  but his friends retaliated and threw stones at them.They said the robbers got into their car and drove off only to come back walking and shooting randomly.

PERPETRATORS TO BOOK

Minister Cele addressed the residents promising them to deploy the Tactical Response Team to the area. He asked the community to work hand in hand with the police to bring the perpetrators to book.
"I was briefed by the police commissioner after the shooting transpired, however at the time we were in KZN for the King's coronation. Here I am now and I've heard quite a number of issues affecting the residents,"said Cele.

RESIDENTS THROW STONES

He added that the councillors and police said shootings were frequent in the area. "They said inadequate resources also make it difficult for them to do their job including their non response to incidents. The environmental design is also a problem because it's difficult for the police to move around the townships."
Cele warned the residents to stop throwing stones at the police.
"The place is without electricity and when police respond to complaints at night, the residents throw stones at them. They also raised the issue of the police station being more than 2km away from them and I've said they will get their satalite station on Monday."

STRATEGY TO FIGHT CRIME

He said he will go back to the community in two weeks and together they can find a strategy to fight crime.
"We believe that the community is a big role player because they know who the perpatrators are as they live amongst them. They can't be scared or allow people to be threatened by criminals."
SAPS Provincial Commissioner General Elias Mawela said they've put together various teams to investigate the matter.
" The teams comprise of crime intelligence, detectives from serious and violent crimes as well as forensic investigators who will work around the clock with our community Intel structures. For now I won't say much because even those criminals are watching to find out how far are we from catching them. I appeal to the members of the community that should they spot the suspects they should inform us so we can arrest them. The issue of the deployment of amabherethe is operational so I can't say when and how they will come to the area,"said Mawela. He said they will come with other solutions to deal with the situation in Finetown.