Residents attack police during arrest

Manenberg police have issued a stern warning against residents attacking officers for doing their duty.

One police officer was seriously wounded as the community started throwing him and his colleagues with bricks while they were in the process of effecting an arrest on two men who were caught stealing cables.

The incident happened during the early morning hours of Tuesday May 20 on the corners of Thames Avenue and Vygieskraal Road. Manenberg SAPS spokesperson, Captain Ian Bennett, said incidents like these, will further hamper service delivery to the area.

“This barbaric behaviour by the community towards Manenberg SAPS members will not be tolerated. It is heart breaking when the very people we try to protect and demand policing services attack us as law enforcement,” Captain Bennett said.

He added that cable theft is a big concern in the area.

“The destruction and theft of critical infrastructure leads to the contribution of other priority crimes. By attacking the police, it seems as if the community don't want services within Manenberg to uplift the area. 

“Our SAPS members caught community members red-handed digging up electrical cables on the corner of Thames and Vygieskraal. During the effecting of the arrest, community members in Thames Avenue started stoning the members, leaving a  SAPS member with serious groin injuries. These acts of violence perpetrated by the community affect service delivery. The community has been complicit in the escape of one suspect, while a 41-year-old man was arrested and will be charged with the theft of cables.”

Manenberg Community Police Forum (CPF) chairperson, Vernon Visagie, said it seems that they are not winning against this.

“The community wants to cover up for perpetrators, and in the meantime, those who are innocent are suffering. Their actions hamper service delivery. When a police van needs to go in for repairs because of damage, it leaves fewer resources on the ground. Cable thieves are also inconveniencing people’s lives, because now children must go to school hungry and cold, and people need to get to work,” Mr Visagie said.

He added that the hampering of service delivery has even more far-reaching effects.

“When contractors come into the area to fix the vandalised cables to restore electricity then they then come under attack and are being robbed. Our ambulance services don’t want to come into Manenberg. They could save lives, but the reality is that while they wait to be escorted by the police to come into the area, someone could have lost their life. People steal cables to feed their addiction, but it comes at a great cost for the community. People must get the message that we are not condoning these actions and perpetrators need to be behind bars for the well-being of the greater community.”

Captain Bennett said Manenberg SAPS has gone to great lengths to establish partnerships with the community and to gain trust, yet they are still “viciously attacked and vehicles are being destroyed”.

Manenberg SAPS station commander, Brigadier Jayce Naidoo, has warned that this action from the community will be met with necessary force to maintain law and order.