A deadly shoot-out in Bhambayi, Inanda, left three community patrollers and one suspected criminal dead.
Image: File: Ayanda Ndamane/ Independent Newspapers
The recent deadly shoot-out in Bhambayi, Inanda, which claimed the lives of three community patrollers and one suspected criminal, has thrown a spotlight not only on the dangers faced by volunteer crime fighters but also on the issue of illegal firearms in KwaZulu-Natal.
KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said four people—three community patrollers and one suspect—were killed in a gunfight before midnight on Friday on Nohohwana Skeke Street after patrollers confronted three suspected armed robbers. A patroller and a suspect died at the scene, and two more patrollers later succumbed to their gunshot wounds in hospital. Police are investigating four counts of murder.
EThekwini Neighbourhood Watch chairperson and co-founder Andile Jali said SAPS authorities should relook at deployment of officers in the Durban area, he suggested that a greater presence of personnel in high-crime areas like Inanda, KwaMashu, and uMlazi, to curb crime effectively.
“The challenge we have is that firearms were looted during the unrest. There has never been a programme to collect firearms,” Jali said.
He said it was revealed that there were many such firearms in places like Inanda, and asked that police teams conduct searches in areas like Bester and Mzomusha areas, to curb the proliferation illegal firearms in such communities.
Jali noted that Inanda had a single police station and was servicing a jurisdiction that was three times the size of other areas.
He said that patrollers, who had ceased operations due to a conflict with other similar structures, were previously able to ensure peace and safety in Bhambayi.
He said the patrollers who lost their lives in last week's attack were taken by surprise when the three suspects appeared suddenly.
Some of them (patrollers) also had legal firearms, meaning they tried to defend themselves,” Jali said.
The patrollers, Elliot Nozulela, 63, Nomonti Mazuzo, 47, and Richard Mhlongo, 40, had been in safety structures for about four years, helping the community.
KZN provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi urged organised community crime fighters to cooperate with police and avoid direct confrontation with suspects.
“We encourage active community participation in the fight against crime; it is the only way that we can win the fight against crime. However, community structures like the Community Police Forum (CPF) and other supplementary structures must be the eyes and ears of the police and never take actions that may endanger their lives. We have seen criminals shooting at police officers, meaning that they will never think twice before shooting at a civilian,” Mkhwanazi said.
“We are calling upon leaders of all community crime-fighting structures to align themselves with the provisions of the Constitution of the CPF and participate in crime-fighting initiatives in a controlled and legal manner.”
Jali responded that Mkhwanazi’s comments were concerning because police response was often delayed, sometimes by many hours, with police first asking for details about the shooting and the situation.
He said they appreciated Mkhwanazi’s concerns, but his past criticisms of policing and the justice system made his current sentiments difficult to accept. Jali noted that Mkhwanazi had previously stated that police effectiveness relied on information provided by safety structures.
“But it surprises us when we are hurt, and instead of receiving comfort from the head of the province’s law enforcement, it’s he who says we will get shot because we are acting like the police,” Jali said.
“We are helping the police, and we volunteer because we see that we cannot sit in our homes with folded arms while criminals roam, killing our people, entering houses, kicking down doors, and raping people. That is what makes us go out, not because we are not afraid of death.
"But we say it is better to try, let the criminals fear, and let the police assist us, but we find ourselves isolated now.”