Residents of Westbury, west of Johannesburg, say they’re prepared to immediately stop their protest action if Police Minister Bheki Cele adequately addresses their concerns when he visits on Tuesday.
Cele is expected to engage with community members following violent protests over drugs and other forms of crime.
Although some streets remain blocked in the area, the situation is relatively calm.
The violent protests come after last Thursday’s alleged gang-related shooting in which a woman was killed and a child critically injured.
These residents say they want drugs and guns out of their community.
“Actually, we want to stop the protest, if we get the answers we want from the minister. But if the community is not happy, we will continue. We do request immediate sufficient police deployment in the area, and we’re not asking for the world, we’re asking for small things, and those small things can save a lot of lives. However, for us, government takes too long to react, at the end of the day we pick bodies up and we find people on the streets that have been shot.”
