A community meeting with police minister Bheki Cele ended in a heated exchange, with him shouting to a civil organisation leader, with police having to remove the man from the gathering.
Cele had visited Gugulethu township in Cape Town after some residents there had complained that he was neglecting the Western Cape where several areas have been experiencing a rise in violent crimes.
According to News24, civil society Action Society director Ian Cameron interrupted Cele as he spoke, highlighting that the minister had utterly failed to protect citizens or adequately deploy police to crime hotspots.
Cameron accused Cele of failing the constitution and his mandate as a minister.
“None of these ladies here have bodyguards to walk home with them at night; they have to do it on their own because they are brave. It's unacceptable, sir. You talk down to the neighbourhood watches and don't understand the policy framework. You are failing in your duties,” News24 quoted Cameron.
This angered Cele and he shouted at Cameron who was standing at the back of the hall. “I did not join human rights yesterday. That is why I was sent to prison. That is why I was sent to Robben Island…Don’t teach me about human rights. Don’t tell me about the safety of my people. I fought for it, I nearly died for it. I was arrested for it, I was exiled for it.
“Don’t provoke me. Don’t talk things that you have studied and you have been told about. I’ve lived this life. I’m not going to take any nonsense of somebody who regards me as a garden boy today. You regard me as a garden boy…Shut up. Shut up. I sat here, I listened to you talking nonsense,” Cele said.
He said both government and society should shoulder the blame for what happened to the teenagers. “The only thing we should make sure is that that thing never happens again…How do we allow people to kill the future of our kids and the future of the nation? “I know one thing ... that alcohol has bad outcomes. All of us must accept that,” he said.
A joint funeral of the teenagers was expected to be held on Wednesday.
Cameron stood up and tried to respond but Cele would have none of it, saying he must shut up, sit down and listen to him. He accused Cameron of not seeking to listen to him as he (Cele) had listened to him speaking earlier.
Police officers quickly moved in to remove Cameron from the meeting.
Cele also spoke about his recent visit to East London where 21 teenagers died at Enyobeni tavern.
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