WATCH: 'Your days are numbered' - Lesufi sends warning to minister

Lesufi was addressing a meeting of the South African National Civic Organisation on Sunday.

He was speaking in his capacity as the ANC’s provincial chairperson in Gauteng.

In a video that has since gone viral on social media, Lesufi can be heard saying “your days are numbered”.

Although it is unclear which minister  Lesufi was referring to, social media users have assumed it must be Police Minister Bheki Cele or Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola.

Lamola's spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, confirmed that there had been consultations with Lamola and has tabled it with the Minister of Police.

“We have trained these young people to be police wardens. You, as a police minister, are refusing to recognise them. Your days are numbered.

“We can’t, when young people are assisting us to fight crime, you want to undermine them.

“You can’t when we have trained young people to be on the streets in our townships and protect our young people when they are studying at night in our schools, you don’t want to recognise them.

“We say to this minister, give us the power for these young people to have the power to get guns so that they protect our townships and chase away criminals in our own areas.

“And we are committed to that," said Lesufi.

The 6000 residents were recruited in April as part of the premier’s commitment to fight crime in the province and went through a three-month training programme.

The group was trained to strengthen the existing law enforcement officials in the fight against crime at the ward level. 

Following their graduation, the wardens were deployed to target hotspot areas in crime prevention operations.

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