By: Natasha Archary
Police Minister Bheki Cele has promised the community of Riverlea that specialized units will flush zama zamas out of the area within 24-hours.
The Minister visited Riverlea on Monday, 31 July, after residents barricaded roads in protests following the discovery of 5 bodies from weekend shootouts between zama zamas.
Cele told residents to hold him to his word that illegal miners in the area will be flushed out, so that law and order can be restored.
Point of View with Phemelo Motene spoke to Riverlea Community Leader, Njabulo Sikota about their protest in Riverlea which erupted a day after the discovery of 5 bodies of illegal miners
Listen to the full conversation here:
According to Cele, this is only the beginning and he says apart from a specialized unit, called the Amaberete, being deployed, an operational plan will be actioned to eliminate illegal miners from Riverlea.
“We need to go down and find these guys where they are. We need to flush them out of their homes. We need to make sure that they realize that they cannot come back to interfere with the community here.
Now we’ll do the medium kind of presence, but there will be other forces, I’m not going to give you the forces and mention the forces, but the next day from now, this place will be wiped clean.
There are amaberete that we are leaving here, but that’s not the end. We’ll reinforce them.”
Police Minister Bheki Cele
However, residents say they are do not believe the Minister’s “empty words,” as he’s made similar promises to residents of Westbury as well as Diepsloot.
Expressing their views to Kaya News, angry residents say the Minister’s words are just that, because the zama zamas have made Riverlea their home.
“The police don’t come, we’re on our own. They do nothing when they’re called.”
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