Residents of Nzhelele said they had had enough of the increasing crime taking place in their area.

They showed their dissatisfaction with the situation after the recent ATM bombings in the area when they marched to the Mphephu SAPS offices to hand over a memorandum with their demands.

The people, who are residing in eight villages in the area, agreed to work hand in hand with the police to root out crime in the area. They complained that they had noticed no improvement in the area since their meeting with the management of the SAPS in 2009.

The chairperson of the Nzhelele Civic Association, Mr Bonny Sinthumule, said that the high crime rate, especially housebreaking and theft, was not acceptable and was ravaging the area. The demonstrators also alleged that criminals had “taken over the village, roamed the streets, terrorizing residents at will. We are at the mercy of these thugs and we need to act in order to stop them in their tracks,” he said.

Sinthumule said that the community had lost trust in the Mphephu SAPS, especially regarding the investigation of the housebreaking cases. He said that the ATM bombing in March occurred less than 500m from the police station. “We are law-abiding citizens, who strongly feel that the police must protect the community," said the civic leader.

Col Mashudu Mavhandu, the station commander at the Mphephu SAPS, said they were experiencing difficulties to locate witnesses for certain cases.