JOHANNESBURG - West Rand residents have warned police that they will continue to hunt for alleged zama zamas until the government takes responsibility for its failings.
Residents have told Police Minister Bheki Cele at the crime combatting imbizo in Kagiso Sunday that their dire warnings about the effects of the illegal mining industry in the area had been ignored.
The second leg of the imbizo continued, with the community calling for military intervention to restore calm.
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Tensions reached breaking point in the community last week when angry protesters set several homes alight and raided mine shafts in search of illegal mine workers they accuse of criminal activity.
This comes in the wake of the rape of eight women who were part of a crew shooting a music video by men believed to be zama zamas last month.
One after another, residents took the microphone and continued with desperate appeals, disheartened complaints and threats of more violence.
"You should arrest me now because I'm saying to you, should you fail to remove those zama zamas, I will lead this community - we only have our hands, that is the only weapons we have," one resident said.
"You need to stop feeding these people. Vote them out! They must feel how cold it is on the other side," the resident added.
As police appear to be going back to the drawing board time and time again, the trust deficit between the men and women in blue and their communities continues to widen.
"We demand that you replace all SAPS in Kagiso. They are useless," another resident demanded.
Police Minister Cele has pledged that interventions in the area will continue until calm is restored.
WATCH: We don’t want this government anymore’- Kagiso residents protest over illegal miners
