COJ Speaker calls on communities to break silence on gang violence

The Speaker of Council in Johannesburg, Margaret Arnolds, has implored communities plagued by gang violence to break their silence. Arnolds has extended condolences to the family of a 53-year-old scholar transport driver who was murdered in Westbury, Johannesburg, on Monday. Gauteng police are actively searching for two suspects connected to the killing.

The driver had recently transported schoolchildren and was about to park at a flat when two men approached him and began shooting. Arnolds made these statements to SABC News outside the deceased's residence in Westbury. "As the City of Johannesburg, we pass our condolences, but we are very devastated to hear this. Our children, our fathers, our husbands cannot be dying like this," she lamented.

"I mean, this person was not related to any gangs. He was an ordinary person trying to provide for his family and was killed. He was shot from behind almost as if it were an assassination." Arnolds also urged parents who are aware their children possess firearms to come forward, stating, "We complain, government is doing nothing, police are doing nothing, but what are we doing to curb this?"