Police Minister Bheki Cele has assured residents of Orlando East police visibility in the area will be improved.
This after unknown gunmen killed 15 people in a mass shooting at an Orlando tavern on Sunday morning.
Twenty-three people were shot inside the Mdlalose tavern in Orlando East. Twelve were killed on the scene, three more died in hospital, and eight wounded patrons are still recovering in surgical wards in nearby hospitals.
Police said they have tasked an 11-member team to investigate the murders, and maximum resources have been activated to find and apprehend the five suspects.
Cele said the elite police tactical unit would be deployed to the area on Monday night.
He urged the community to work together with the police in fighting the scourge of crime, adding:
We want to saturate the streets here so that criminals don’t take over our streets.
Cele said national police commissioner Fannie Masemola would also bolster resources for the Orlando police station by adding five new police vans to patrol the Nomzamo informal settlement.
He added the misuse of state vehicles by police officers would not be tolerated and promised newly recruited 10 000 police personnel, who were undergoing training until 15 December, would also assist in securing communities.
“We will seal the community and conduct a door-to-door campaign to confiscate illegal firearms. Because there are people who use AK-47s killing people, it shows that there are many illegal guns in the area. Those with illegal firearms must return them to the police.”
Cele said they would recruit and select suitable candidates to serve as police officers, adding all applicants would be subjected to fitness, psychometric and integrity testing, as well as medical evaluations during the recruitment, selection and enlistment process.
“When you have a tattoo, we don’t hire you because you have a tendency of being a gangster.”
