Police beef up presence in Freedom Park
There was a heavy police presence in Freedom Park with patrols and a helicopter hovering above, after an ANC councillor was murdered earlier this week.
|||Johannesburg - There was a heavy police presence in Freedom Park on Friday morning with cop cars patrolling the area and a helicopter hovering above.
At least six police vehicles were parked at the entrance to the suburb while the Joburg metro police department (JMPD) conducted a roadblock, pulling cars over and inspecting licences.
Since the murder of ANC Freedom Park ward councillor Mbuyiselo Dokolwane on Monday night, residents have felt unsettled.
When the news of Dokolwane’s death broke earlier this week, community members were up in arms and took to the streets in protest barricading the roads with large rocks and burning tyres.
The police dispatched to the area were met by enraged community members who congregated outside the councillor's home demanding an end to the violence in the area.
On Friday morning a police officer who asked not to be named said they were monitoring the situation, but there hadn’t been any incidents on Friday.
“Residents blocked roads and protested earlier this week,” he said.
One resident who asked not to be named out of fear for his life said residents were angry.
“There were problems yesterday and on Wednesday, but it seems a bit better today (yesterday). I haven’t heard anything,” he said, adding that taxi violence in this area was nothing new.
Dokolwane's 13-year-old daughter, who was at home the night he was killed, told The Star that her father had arrived home from a branch meeting in Braamfontein at about 8.
“I went outside to close the gate for him and then I saw a man with a gun wearing a balaclava and blue overalls parked outside.”
She ran to the neighbour’s house for help but it was too late. Moments later she heard her father scream, then multiple gunshots.
“When I came out of the neighbour’s house, I saw my father lying on the ground,” she said.
Other relatives of Dokolwane, including his wife and older daughter, were also at the house at the time.
While the motive for the killing was unknown, Dokolwane’s sister, Lindiya, said she believed his murder was linked to the elections or recent taxi violence.
He was a central mediator involved in resolving taxi conflict in the community.
At least two people have been shot and killed since January around that area, while several more have been injured in the alleged battles over taxi routes.
Family friend Onica Mputle said a woman had overheard, while driving in a taxi last week, that there had been a hit out for Dokolwane and had reported it to him last week.
Other relatives said he had received threatening SMSes, but couldn’t locate the senders.
Constable Thuli Ngwenya said no one had been arrested for Dokolwane’s murder, but an investigation was under way.
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