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'Criminals are taking us for a joke' - Cape Town community demands new station head after cop killing

The Delft Community Policing Forum says the community wants the acting station commander to be removed from office, amid a fatal shooting that saw a police officer killed and two others injured.

A police officer, 32, was killed and two other colleagues seriously injured when an unknown man shot at their vehicle in Spekboom Street in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Five minutes later, a second patrol vehicle that responded to the shooting, was also shot at by the same suspect outside a Spar in Sandelhout Street. Three other police officers fired back, injuring the shooter.

The man, 24, was arrested and is under police guard.

Delft CPF chairperson Pastor Charles George told News24 on Sunday that the community has had enough, and had protested the removal of the acting station commander on Friday already.

"We feel that the station commander is not equipped to deal with the crime in Delft at the moment, the management is not equipped to deal with the crime... and the crime is not subsiding it is getting worse by day."

He said they met with the area's cluster commander following the shooting and tabled a few demands - the first one being the removal of the acting station commander. He said they also want the entire management structure to be revamped. 

"We need a new sheriff in town, we need someone that can be hard on crime and hard on these criminals because, at the moment, these criminals are taking all of us just for a joke," he said.

National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole meanwhile vowed to stop at nothing following the arrest in connection with the murder on Sunday.

The shooting comes three days after the army was finally seen in surrounding Cape Flats suburbs. The army is assisting with rolling joint operations for 60 days in ten dangerous precincts in the city.

On Friday, IOL reported that residents of Blikkiesdorp in Delft embarked on a violent protect action in Delft in a bid to draw attention to the high level of crime, poverty and unemployment.

According to the SABC, the protesters burnt tyres and stoned vehicles which saw several roads being closed. 

SANDF soldiers were seen in Delft later on Friday after the protest.

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