DA pledges safer Ekurhuleni offers reward

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Geordin Hill-Lewis says residents of Ekurhuleni on Gauteng’s East Rand will be safer under a DA government.

He addressed residents of Tsakane in the municipality, which has been rocked by the discovery of the bodies of nine women killed over the last three months.

Hill-Lewis’ engagement forms part of the DA’s Working For All Tour ahead of November’s local government elections.

The party has offered a reward of R500 000 for information that will lead to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators in the murders of the women .

He also announced measures the party will take to improve residents’ security, including ensuring that every senior officer in the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department undergoes a lifestyle audit.

“So our first job must be to clean up and professionalise the EMPD.

Appoint people because they are capable.

Hold officers to a high standard and make it absolutely clear that they are here to protect the public, not the powerful.

Secondly, we need a far stronger visible policing presence in the places where residents are most vulnerable.

That means identifying crime hotspots and deploying intelligently.

It means working streetlights.

It means safer public transport stations, parks and pedestrian routes.

It means using technology like drones and cameras much better,” Hill-Lewis says. [GRAPHIC CONTENT] Ekurhuleni Murders | Body of ninth woman found in Boksburg Police have offered a separate cash reward of R400 000 for anyone who comes forward with information that could lead to arrests in the Ekurhuleni murder cases.

The reward was announced during a media briefing on measures to apprehend the perpetrators of the killings.