News24.com | 'Kids are in prison, it is our duty to ... release them', Cele orders specialised cops in Westbury

Police Minister Bheki Cele.

• Police Minister Bheki Cele has ordered a team of specialised officers to restore peace in Westbury amid ongoing shootings.
• The officers from the Anti-Gang Unit, Tactical Response Team and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department were deployed in the area on Tuesday.
• Cele visited the area along with senior police officers, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko.

"You are not tourists; you are here to work."

This was the stern warning of Police Minister Bheki Cele when the police deployed specialised officers in Westbury, Johannesburg, on Tuesday amid ongoing shootings in the area. He instructed the officers to restore peace and order and said he wanted them to go door to door to find the illegal firearms used in the violence.

"You are not tourists here; you are not here to be part of the shebeens; you are not here to be part of running drugs here and to be friends with drug lords," he told the officers.

"We can't have a community that doesn't sleep, a community converted into a cemetery. We can't have a community where children aren't safe and can't play. Here kids are in prison, and it is our duty to come and release them," Cele said.

He also called on the officers not to be influenced by criminals. Instead, he said, they should restore the community's trust in the police.

READ | Westbury kids are groomed for prison, says this ex gangster. He thinks they deserve better

"Don't betray the goodwill of the community. Work with the community. Don't betray their trust. They must be able to come to you. You must have the will to be part of this community."

Cele spoke at a local stadium where the officers participated in a parade. He was accompanied by police top brass, City of Johannesburg Mayor Thapelo Amad, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko.

Cele said a group of 69 specialised officers from the Anti-Gang Unit, Tactical Response Team and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department was selected to stabilise Westbury.

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The officers will be in the area for a three-month "assessment". Cele said he would return after three months to address residents.

Cele said:

Cele's visit to Westbury comes when residents are living in fear amid a drug turf war and multiple shootings. This was Cele's second visit to the area within a few days.

He ordered the officers to "go out there" and find the illegal firearms behind the shooting spate.

"I am instructing that these forces, from now on, will walk among, between and with the community. But when criminals want to govern with the elected government, don't be kind to criminals. When criminals are unkind to you, be double unkind to them," Cele said.