- ActionSA mayoral candidate Xolani Khumalo raised alarms about policing in Ekurhuleni after a personal encounter on the N12 freeway near Daveyton
- Khumalo spoke at an IOL town hall debate in Johannesburg on 19 October 2026, where he detailed what he found after inspecting local police resources
- The candidate called for more active personnel and advanced surveillance technology to protect residents from crime in Ekurhuleni
Source: UGC
GAUTENG — ActionSA's Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Xolani Khumalo has raised serious concerns about the state of policing in the municipality, pointing to a near-total absence of metro police officers on the N12 freeway during a late-night drive two days before a major public debate.
Khumalo made the remarks at an IOL town hall debate held in Johannesburg on 19 October 2026, where Ekurhuleni mayoral candidates gathered to discuss local safety and municipal governance ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections.
Khumalo's N12 freeway encounter
The ActionSA candidate told debate attendees he had been travelling along the N12 towards Daveyton on his way to a church service when he noticed the absence of any Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department officers along the route. Only South African Police Service personnel were visible on the freeway, he said.
The experience prompted him to look more closely at the state of police resources in the municipality. What he found, he told the debate, was deeply troubling: officers without proper uniforms, vehicles that were not roadworthy, and numerous patrol cars sitting idle in workshops rather than being deployed to protect communities.
Calls for surveillance technology and more officers
Khumalo argued that the breakdown in visible policing has left residents, particularly women and children, exposed to criminal activity, with offenders emboldened by the knowledge that patrols are sparse and consequences are unlikely.
He called on authorities to urgently increase the number of active officers on the ground and to introduce advanced surveillance technology capable of tracking vehicle movement in and out of Ekurhuleni. His proposal centres on closing the gaps that allow criminals to operate freely across the municipality's road network.
The IOL town hall debate forms part of a broader pre-election conversation about accountability and service delivery in Ekurhuleni, one of South Africa's largest metropolitan municipalities. Khumalo also addressed ActionSA supporters recently at a rally. View his address on X here:
Xolani Khumalo outlines job creation plan
In a related article, Briefly News reported on Khumalo’s plan to create jobs by bringing municipal security, cleaning and general labour services in-house.
Khumalo argued that insourcing could reduce unemployment and crime, but his televised comments drew sharp criticism online, with some users questioning his readiness to lead.
Source: Briefly News
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