Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) chief David Tembe has maintained that his officers did what they were assigned to do following the chaos that occurred after the Global Citizen Festival earlier this month.
He gave the update at the city’s monthly crime stats briefing in Braamfontein on Tuesday.
Tembe says that the seven suspects that were arrested by the JMPD will appear in court on Thursday on charges of common robbery and assaulting a police officer, among others.
The JMPD recently launched its own internal investigation after the Sunday Times reported that they did not implement their traffic management plan effectively, contributing to the chaos that ensued outside the stadium.
Tembe says his officers followed the instructions they were given.
“Our function is to ensure that there is a flow of traffic on that particular day. Number two is to ensure that we cover 43 points that were allocated to us. The third one is crime prevention. Those seven arrested, they are still behind bars now. JMPD has done what was expected of them.”