The Gauteng Department of Community Safety will deploy a safety kiosk in Vlakfontein, south of Johannesburg, following the murder of a 41-year-old woman in the area.
The deployment follows a confession by a 28-year-old suspect to the murder of the 41 year-old woman. The suspect is set to appear in court today.
The suspect was arrested after he confessed to the murder and the woman’s body was found buried in a shallow grave inside his shack on Sunday evening by a police search and rescue team.
The suspect is due to make his bail application appearance at the Protea Magistrate Court after he was arrested on Sunday following his confession to the murder.
Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko visited the crime scene on Monday afternoon and addressed the community of Vlakfontein Ext 1.
"The rate of femicide is of grave concern to us as the Gauteng government. We encourage women to break the silence by reporting incidents of gender-based violence as they tend to escalate to femicide. We encourage the community to report people who are missing to the police as the suspect confessed that there are other bodies that he buried," said Mazibuko.
The murder comes as the country marks Women’s Month and continues to fight the scourge of gender-based violence in the country.
According to the MEC, the kiosk is meant to bridge the distance between the community and the Lenasia South police station.
“Peace officers, who are authorised to perform citizen’s arrests, and patrollers, who will patrol the area and respond to calls from the community, will be deployed to the kiosk.
The community is encouraged to use the kiosk to follow-up on cases that they reported to the police and are still pending,” said Mazibuko. – SAnews.gov.za
