‘Do Your Job’: Reiger Park Residents Confront Police Minister Firoz Cachalia After 2 Officers Killed

• Police Minister Firoz Cachalia visited Reiger Park on Sunday after two anti-gang unit constables were shot dead in an ambush on Friday night
• Residents confronted Cachalia over ongoing gang violence, saying lives were being lost every week with no meaningful solutions from government
• Ward councillor Edith Klaassen raised urgent concerns about the witness protection programme, warning that frightened residents refused to speak out

GAUTENG — Residents of Reiger Park in Ekurhuleni confronted Police Minister Firoz Cachalia during his visit to the area on Sunday, shouting "do your job" as he addressed the community in the wake of a deadly ambush that claimed the lives of two police officers.

Constables Thapelo Tomasan and Sphiwe Sibeko were shot and killed on Friday night after responding to a fatal shooting in the area involving two women, Rolene Lessing and Jaydin Magerman. The officers were gunned down in what community members described as a deliberate ambush. Residents also warned that firearms believed to belong to the slain officers remained unaccounted for and were likely still circulating in the area.

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Community voices anger at minister's visit

According to News 24, Cachalia arrived at the scene of the shooting on Sunday afternoon, but his presence did little to reassure residents. Community members expressed frustration that it had taken the deaths of two police officers to draw a minister to their neighbourhood, arguing that gang violence had been ravaging Reiger Park long before Friday's incident. They accused Cachalia of arriving without concrete plans to address the crisis and demanded actionable solutions rather than words.

Reiger Park ward councillor Edith Klaassen said it was deeply troubling that such a tragedy was required to prompt a ministerial visit. She told Cachalia that she received calls about incidents of this nature on a daily basis. Klaassen also pressed the minister on the state of the witness protection programme, describing it as fundamentally broken.

"People are scared to talk because their lives are at stake. So many things are said about witness protection such as people go into witness protection and three days later are out on the street," she said.

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Cachalia urges community unity

Briefly News also reported that during his address, Cachalia called on residents and organisations to join forces with the South African Police Service to combat gang violence, emphasising that collective responsibility was the starting point for change. He said the starting point here is for the community to come together, take responsibility. "Criticising the police is not going to take us forward," he said. His remarks were met with heckling from the crowd. Residents made clear that they expected to be left behind once again to live in fear after his visit concluded, warning that lives were being lost in Reiger Park every single week.

Source: Briefly News