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Police Minister Bheki Cele listens to members of the community.
- Police Minister Bheki Cele attended an Imbizo in Langa on Saturday.
- Cele said that the police and the community should work together.
- The minister also pointed out that while there are bad police, there are also good and bad members of the community.
Police Minister Bheki Cele told the Langa community in the Western Cape that the police could not pursue 10-year-old children.
“What are the police going to do with 10-year-olds? We cannot pass on the responsibility of being parents, we cannot say that the police should take care of 10-year-olds,” he said.
Cele spoke of an experience when she visited the area after a street party, and a mother asked the police for help with her 10-year-old son.
“As I listened, I found myself surrounded by mothers, who told us to call the police to help us with our children here,” he explained.
“Where do they get their alcohol, at age 10? I told the mothers that we must bring order to the police, but also to the fathers,” he said.
Cele hosted an Imbizo with the Langa community on Saturday.
READ | Police should be deployed in Langa, not in Parliament – Ndlozi
He said there may be some police officers who had not fulfilled their duties, but it was also up to the community to take action in their area.
“This is our community. We are here to stay, so we need to fix this community. While there are some bad members of the police, there are also some bad members of the community,” he said.
Cele said bad communities also include parents who allow their 10-year-olds to drink all night.
“You mothers are sleeping, but your 10-year-old son is drinking and tells himself that he is a father. Call the police. At age 10, the mother asks what are the police doing? No, if it were i eat a dad and i’m married to you [and] I am being defeated by a 10 year old boy, you must divorce me, “he said.
According to Cele, there are currently more than 4,700 men serving life sentences for crimes against women, a figure that shows that there are good policemen who are obtaining sentences.
“There are 4,728 men in South Africa serving a life of abuse [toward] woman; to make life, someone must have done a good job and that is a good cop.
“There are good police and there are bad. Just as there are good and bad members of the community,” he said.
Cele also said that action will be taken against police officers who are negligent in their duties.
Cele added that it had taken note of complaints raised by neighborhood watch patrols, alleging that there is favoritism in the way resources are allocated to different areas.
He promised to raise this issue with the provincial representatives of Cape Town and the Western Cape.
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