The community of Reiger Park, Boksburg, is devastated after a shooting incident has left six people dead and three others injured.
National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola confirmed the reinforcements, while community leaders and criminologists warned that such killings are becoming disturbingly routine.
Briefing the media and residents on Sunday afternoon, Masemola said police would not allow such incidents to continue.
“We came out here because we heard what had happened yesterday, and we say it cannot continue happening in this way,” he said.
Masemola said he had met with local councillors, community leaders, and pastors, and several key decisions were taken to restore calm and improve policing in the area.
“The first decision is that the police team deployed here for stabilisation will remain here and work here to make sure that there is stability in this community,” he said.
The Saturday night attack is one of several mass shootings reported across the country in recent weeks.
It has reignited public outcry over the proliferation of illegal firearms and the failure of law enforcement to stem the tide of violence. It has prompted the deployment of additional police officers to the area.
ActionSA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Xolani Khumalo said the mass shooting is not an isolated incident.
“Communities are rightly asking why police cannot answer the critical question of who is supplying the weapons that continue to terrorise communities,” he said.
“Communities are facing an existential crisis, with the proliferation of unlicensed firearms at the centre of mass shootings from the Cape Flats to Ekurhuleni.”
