Police Minister Bheki Cele accompanies SAPS officials in Durban as they apprehend looters at warehouses near the N2. Picture: Lirandzu Themba
Faizel Patel – 16/072021
Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshaveni says the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and police had been deployed in Phoenix in KwaZulu-Natal after reports of racial tensions.
Ntshaveni was briefing the media on Thursday following the spate of unrest, violence and looting in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
She says government has noted reports of some armed community members brandishing firearms publicly in an apparent retaliation against perpetrators of the public violence.
Ntshaveni warned communities must not take the law into their own hands.
“Government would like to caution the public that, although persons are entitled to protect their property and lives, this must be done in a manner that everyone’s right to life is protected as provided for in our Constitution and con only be infringed in extremely limited circumstances.”
She’s urged residents to work with police.
“We don’t want a situation where members of the public are at loggerheads with the law after their attempts to protect their communities, their properties and their own lives.”
Ntshaveni says police had arrested one of 12 alleged instigators behind the violence that had torn through Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal over the past seven days.
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