Athlone community leaders warn against deploying SANDF to solve gang crisis

The Athlone Community Policing Forum says sending in the SANDF will not solve the crime crisis in the area.

Forum chairperson Vernon Pidt shared his sentiments in Bridgetown on Wednesday after a nine-month-old baby was shot dead in Sunbird Court on Tuesday.

Residents in the area are gripped by fear following the shooting, which also left the infant's mother and another woman dead.

Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia has confirmed that the SANDF will be deployed to gang hotspots in the Western Cape within the next 10 days.

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Pidt said the incident, which happened at a known drug den, is yet another tragic shooting in the area.

"The fact that a nine-month-old baby was also killed makes it even worse. It says to me that the perpetrators of crime have no remorse. They feel nothing for anybody," said Pidt.

Pidt added that the deployment of the SANDF to the area will be futile.

"They don’t know how to work in the community. They are trained for combat. They don’t understand the community."