City of Cape Town safety boss JP Smith said a lack of sex is what fuels ANC councillor Tony Ehrenreich’s political outbursts.
|||Cape Town - Cape Town safety boss JP Smith said a lack of sex is what fuels ANC councillor Tony Ehrenreich’s political outbursts.
Smith, the Mayoral committee member for safety and aecurity, on Tuesday told the Daily Voice that the ANC man and Cosatu provincial secretary general “needs to get laid”.
He lashed out at Ehrenreich, who sent a letter to mayor Patricia de Lille about gang violence at Uitsig Secondary School in Ravensmead.
“Every week he has to say something about me,” said Smith.
“The city can’t dedicate full-time officers to schools. The members have to deal with service delivery, events and road safety.
“Tony doesn’t realise he is scoring an own goal, he should be attacking [Police Minister] Nathi Mthethwa.
“We [Metro police] are not allowed to investigate crime. So how is the city to blame?”
“If SAPS were arresting people then we would not be sitting with this problem.”
Ehrenreich penned the letter to De Lille on Monday, saying gang violence was expected to flare up again on Tuesday.
The letter stated: “We have been alerted that gang violence is again being threatened at the Uitsig High School, and we request that your offices ensure that the SAPS and City Police are in attendance to protect our learners.
“We are requesting that the school safety officers from the City of Cape Town be deployed to the school as a matter of urgency.
“There are daily assaults on learners outside of the school gates in the morning and it has now escalated into the school grounds and classrooms. This situation is perpetrated by local thugs.
“We need an urgent intervention to mitigate the threat, whilst we address the longer term systemic crisis that gives rise to this.”
The Daily Voice visited the school on Tuesday where frightened learners spoke of the threat they face daily.
They said gangsters have access to the school and threaten pupils and teachers alike.
A 16-year-old girl explained that a gangster beat her with a stick just last week.
“Gangsters walk in and out of the school and they don’t care who sees them,” she said.
“Last week while I was walking to class, a gang member came to me and he hit me with a stick. My arm was bruised.
“The gangster is a 28s member, and they always come here and threaten people.”
The frightened girl said there is no proper security at the school.
“There were Bambanani security but they were so pap,” the teenager added.
“The gates are locked when we are inside but gangsters still get over the fence and come to look for their rivals [in the school].”
The girl said the violence has been happening for more than four years.
“The principal can’t protect us because he is also scared,” she added.
“We are not safe in this school.”
Western Cape Education Department spokeswoman Bronagh Casey on Tuesday said they are investigating the claimed by the learners.
“The principal denies that any incidents have occurred,” she said.
But the Daily Voice can reveal that staff members are all too familiar with the violence.
“We have found knives on learners and we heard about guns [in the school],” revealed one staff member.
“I am scared to be in this school and when they [gangsters] come we can’t do anything but stand and watch. We need help here.”
Daily Voice