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By Sihle Mlambo 
1 hour ago
Johannesburg – Police Minister General Bheki Cele has called on police officers to protect themselves after “reckless, irresponsible and dangerous statements” made by EFF leader Julius Malema over the weekend.
On Sunday, Malema, while addressing party supporters, complained that the police had been in collusion with the white community and abused EFF supporters in recent anti-racism protests in Senekal and Brackenfell in Ciudad del Cape.
Malema said the party would retaliate by visiting individual police officers in their homes.
“If the South African police want a fight, they must declare it. We will treat them the same way we treated them in the 80s.
“We will not only fight them in the pickets. We will go to their homes and fight them in their own homes with their own families, ”Malema said.
Cele condemned Malema’s comments with disgust, saying they were reckless, irresponsible and dangerous statements.
Cele asked the police officers to protect themselves and said she was confident that, if possible, they would be able to defend themselves in case of being attacked.
“I think the EFF leader has crossed the line, you are not going to threaten the police and you think they will just sit back.
“The work of the police is clear and is prescribed in the Constitution, which is to protect, prevent, combat and investigate crime.
“The police are also there to defend and enforce the law, so no one has the right to threaten the police when they do their job,” Cele said.
Cele said Malema advocated violence against police officers and their families and wanted to assure South Africans that SAPS would not take such threats lightly.
“Threat to the lives of members of the police and their families will not be tolerated, law enforcement officers should never be used as bait for political mileage,” Cele said.
Meanwhile, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) previously condemned Malema’s threats.
Popcru spokesman Richard Mamabolo said Malema’s comments were dangerous and irresponsible.
“As he has done before, verbally attacking the character of our men and women in blue in September for doing their duties, to the point where he even labeled their boots stinky, this time he has taken his insults to another level. , where it is promoting direct violence against SAPS members and their families, ”said Mamabolo.
He accused Malema of indirectly calling for anarchy.
“For a person like Mr. Malema, who is also a public representative, to stoop so low and put the lives and families of law enforcement officers at such potential risk is very irresponsible.
“This is also happening at a time when we have been pleading with the population to help in the fight against police killings, which are on the rise,” Mamabolo said.
MESS
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