Jozi Mayor’s wife lays wreaths at Rhodes Park

23 October 2015

 

Pilisiwe Twala-Tau, wife of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Parks Tau, yesterday (Thursday October 22) laid wreaths at the spot where two men were brutally murdered at Rhodes Park in Kensington on Saturday October 17.

 

Twala-Tau was joined by Member of the Mayoral Committee for Public Safety Councillor Sello Lemao and MMC for Group Corporate and Shared Services Councillor Mally Mokoena in a short “prayer service for peace” in memory of the two slain men. A woman was raped and another escaped.

 

A relative of one of the victims was overcome with grief after visiting the spot where the man was killed and had to be calmed down. After the short prayer service, the contingent – including MMC for Health and Social Development Councillor Nonceba Molwele, MMC for Community Development Councillor Chris Vondo, City officials and family members – proceeded to the Standard Bank Arena in Ellis Park to take part in mass prayer service in support of families of 60 police officers who were killed in the line of duty this year alone.

 

The wreath-laying ceremony at Rhodes Park followed an attack on two couples by a gang of 12 men on Saturday afternoon.

 

The gang tied up the men and threw them into the nearby dam. The two women watched helplessly as their partners battled for their lives until they drowned.

 

After the incident Mayor Tau announced that a partnership would be initiated to root out criminal elements at all the City’s recreational facilities. The Mayoral Committee also called for a collaborative security plan to be immediately implemented at Rhodes Park. A patrol roster is already being developed by all the stakeholders, which include park rangers and members of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, South African Police Service and local policing forums.