- A team will be appointed to fast-track cold cases in Alexandra, Police Minister Bheki Cele has promised residents.
- He was speaking at an imbizo after several people were shot dead in the area, when a gang went on a robbing and shooting spree.
- He was accompanied by the provincial and national police commissioners.
Police Minister Bheki Cele has promised that a "special team" will be appointed to fast-track cold cases in Alexandra, Johannesburg.
"There are outstanding cases. The commissioners, both provincial and national, will send a special team to be able to crack all the crimes here and arrest all the criminals. I did see the figures and the statistics; they are not very good," he said.
"There are a lot of withdrawals… there are a lot of cases being investigated for a long time.
"It is important that if you commit a crime, you get arrested quickly so that people can realise that they have no business to commit crime. The community at large must also be assured that police respond," Cele said following an imbizo in Alexandra on Sunday afternoon.
He was accompanied by police top brass, including national commissioner General Fannie Masemola and provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela.
The imbizo was held after several people were shot dead and wounded last week.
Among those killed was Alex FM producer Joshua Mbatha.
The gang allegedly went on a robbing and shooting spree in the township.
Arresting officers found them with stolen cellphones, ammunition, and firearms.
Mawela announced on Sunday that eight people had been arrested for the killings.
He said police had arrested 11 people for drunken driving, 41 for serious crimes, and 22 undocumented people in the area on Saturday night.
"We believe that we had a very fruitful operation, but this operation is continuing," he added.
Cele called on community leaders to work together with the police.
"You can’t have 347 shebeens… those shebeens cause trouble because sometimes they allow young kids to be there."
He vowed that police would act decisively when dealing with suspected drug dealers in the township.
Police would meet again with community leaders in the area to discuss long-term plans to tackle crime in the township, he said.
"We have worked very closely with the community after this crime that has been committed here. We don’t want that moment to die."