Hout Bay vigilante killing condemned

Statement by Dan Plato, Western Cape Minister of Community Safety

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the alleged vigilante killing which happened in Hout Bay last night.

It needs to be made explicitly clear that the Western Cape will not tolerate vigilante killings, regardless of its motivation or the circumstances.

Those responsible for the stoning last night have become murderers themselves and will have to face the full might of the law.

No sphere of government, police, law enforcement authority or community can allow such lawless and brutal acts to become part of our social fabric. I call on the South African Police Service to conduct a thorough investigation into the death and to protect the community from the criminal elements operating in the community.

I urge the community to distance themselves from the criminal elements among them, to identify them to the authorities and to report all incidents of crime to the police. If you feel the police is not doing what they are supposed to, alternatives exist to taking the law into your own hands:

• The Neighbourhood Watch or Community Policing Forum for escalation;
• The Office of the Western Cape Provincial Police Ombudsman;
• The Department of Community Safety by lodging a complaint at 021 483 4332 or via email at policing.complaints@westerncape.gov.za or safer@westerncape.gov.za.

The Department of Community Safety is committed to help create safer environments where people work, live and move about. We cannot do this alone and need the support and commitment from our law-abiding community members.

My Department and I will be in Hout Bay on Monday afternoon to discuss the basket of opportunities available to partner with the Department towards safer environments. We will also be taking our Women’s Month outreach event to Hout Bay in the evening as we focus on “Building Resilient Families” as the starting point to resilient and safe communities.

Safety is everyone’s responsibility and these murders must be condemned by all of us. It must be stressed that safety cannot be created by taking the law into one’s own hands.