Lesufi vows crackdown on drugs and illegal firearms on Women’s Day

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has called for an intensified crackdown on drugs and illegal firearms, saying the killing of two women and two police officers in Reiger Park highlights the country’s continuing struggle to protect women and communities from violence. Speaking at the Union Buildings in Pretoria ahead of this year’s nationalWomen’s Daycommemoration, Lesufi said the deadly shooting in the east of Johannesburg was a stark reminder of the challenges facing South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to deliver the keynote address at the event on Sunday which marks 70 years since more than 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 to protest against the extension of pass laws to women.

“Honourable president, two days ago, two women driving on one of our public roads were brutally ambushed and killed. Two young policemen who came to their rescue were also butchered and their R5 rifles taken from their lifeless bodies,” said Lesufi. “This incident, president, summarises our new struggles for peace and freedom, where the victims are just killed and those that need to protect them are also killed,” he said.

The two women and two anti-gang unit officers who were responding to reports of gunshots during a police patrol were shot dead in Reiger Park on Friday night. Lesufi visited the scene on Saturday and vowed that authorities would intensify efforts to track down those responsible. He described the attack on the police officers as an attack on the state.

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“My argument is very simple, you attack policemen, you attack the state. So what has just happened here is nothing else but a declaration of war and we have to respond,” he said. “There’s no way the policemen can fold their arms when one of their own are being attacked. They’re not going to allow chaos to reign in our own country, in our own province.” Read:Illegal mining causing Joburg substations to collapse, says City Power Lesufi called for stronger action against drugs, illegal firearms and perpetrators of violence against women.

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