Hanover Park police and the community police forum have embarked on an initiative to take back the streets from gangs by painting over gang signs and names.
On Friday and Saturday nights the men and women in blue together with the Hanover Park Community Police Forum visit different gang territories to paint over gang-related graffiti and are calling on the community to join them – and to donate paint to ensure the project can continue.
Philippi police station commander, Colonel Dawood Laing, said for far too long the community had been held hostage by gangsters and this was an initiative which allowed them to take back their streets.
Colonel Laing said since October last year the number of of gang-related murders had decreased by 20% and gang violence had been relatively low for the past three weeks which he attributed to patrols by the police and community.
“These gangsters will not claim our streets anymore. The community is very eager to get involved and take back what is theirs. Any paint donations can be given to the CPF as this will be an ongoing thing,” he said.
Hanover Park CPF spokesperson, Kashiefa Mohammed, said the initiative had encouraged residents to feel a bit safer walking outside.
”We had to do something about all the killings and shooting in the area as well as the gang in-fighting which affects innocent people. We have to stand together to fight this by having these walkabouts.
“We still have many more streets to do and the residents are happy about this,” she said.