Gauteng MPLs concerned at number of taverns in Orange Farm
Updated | By Selaki Ledwaba
The Gauteng provincial legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety conducted an oversight visit to the Orange Farm police station on Tuesday.
The visit follows the mass shooting, which claimed the lives of seven people.
Five family members, including a three-year-old boy, were killed at Mokokotlong, southwest of Johannesburg, in the early hours of 13 October.
A neighbour and a family friend were also killed.
Police said the shooting occurred after a man had gone to a local tavern and, finding it closed, had an altercation with the tavern owner, who then followed him home.
The tavern owner later turned the gun on himself.
The committee’s chairperson, Bandile Masuku, said they went to assess the police station’s handling of the case, examine community safety concerns in the area and engage police officers on strategies to prevent future incidents.
“The other reason for the oversight is that Orange Farm Police Station is one of the poorest performing stations in the country. And so, as a committee, we wanted to upraise the issues,” Masuku said.
Masuku said a new station commander began his duties in May.
“The second issue is the high number of liquor outlets in the area, and we know that alcohol is one of the drivers of crime-related matters, and it is something that needs to be looked at,” Masuku explained.
The committee has decided to summon the Department of Human Settlement to discuss the formalisation of the informal settlements in Orange Farm, as well as the liquor board to discuss the number of local taverns.
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