Eastern Cape needs more resources to tackle worrying crime rate - Mabuyane

LUSIKISIKI - The Eastern Cape government said it needed more resources to tackle its worrying crime rate.

Premier Oscar Mabuyane visited Lusikisiki on Tuesday, along with police top brass.

Eighteen people were killed in a mass shooting in the area on Saturday.

ALSO READ:

- Eastern Cape a hotspot for mass murders – police

- AmaMpondo Royal Family calls on govt to crack down on Lusikisiki crime scourge

- EC Community Safety Department concedes uptick in gun violence

Mabuyane said that police reinforcements deployed to the province were still not enough.

Locals in Lusikisiki said that criminals had outpaced the police.

Residents also raised concerns that the recent mass shooting took place just a few kilometres from the local police station.

Mabuyane has called for force multipliers to address the policing needs of the province.

"With the reinforcement we’ve called for, we are seeing a lot of combat forces - NIU [National Intervention Unit], TRT [Tactical Response Team] - but we need more than that. 

"We need helicopters for you to manage a province that has got almost an 800-kilometre radius. You need more capacity for you to move between Qgeberha to this far end of our province.”

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola visited the province on Tuesday.

They’ve vowed to turn things around, saying policing will now have to enter a new era of fighting crime.