Cape Town - Communities and stakeholders in and around Gugulethu gathered and marched to the Gugulethu police station demanding safer communities.
A number of organisations, schools and businesses took part in the Gugulethu shutdown on Thursday morning to highlight crimes including Gender-Based Violence.
Marchers moved from various venues and stopped at Gugulethu Mall before embarking to the local police station to hand over a memorandum of grievances.
Inter-faith religious leaders met at the Manenberg police station at 9.30 am, and proceeded to march across the bridge to Gugulethu to support the Shut Down.
Gugulethu Development Forum (GDF) chairperson, Samora Nompunga said called on all the police stations in Gugulethu to have a "proper" system to deal with GBV cases.
A number of various organisations, schools as well as businesses are taking part in the Gugulethu shutdown to highlight Gender-Based Violence. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency(ANA)
Nompunga said also called on the police to investigation officers to prioritise all the GBV cases presented to their office.
Marchers also demanded a "straight" number that will assist the survivors for 24 hours, and demanded police availability in schools in the morning and the afternoon and to search everyone coming in and out of school premises.
Pastor De Vries Bock of the Lutheran Church, one of the signatories of the Cape Flats Inter-faith Declaration, said the procession is also a symbolic gesture of joining and bringing closer the predominantly Coloured-black communities of Heideveld and Manenberg, and the predominantly African-black communities of Gugulethu and Nyanga.
Bock said the Shut down has been arranged to protest rising gender-based violence and violent crime in an area with one of the highest crime rates in the country.
Sikhangele Mabhulu of Sonke Gender Justice said they want people to make a mind shift about GBV.
General Manager for Gugulethu Mall, Noel Timms said they closed all the shops in the mall, in support of the march. "We want to show people that, it is not about money, but about our people who suffer because of criminals".
The memorandum was signed and accepted by Bertie Brink of the Gugulethu police station.
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