Community members from Gogobole village have joined forces and formed a committee that is responsible for patrolling the streets during the night.

They say they have had enough of crime and would like to root out all criminals from their midst and see to it that the thugs are locked up behind bars. Crimes such as housebreakings, robberies as well as shebeen violence have become the order of the day.

Community member Mr David Matshusa said the community had had enough of crime and decided to start an operation called Vhafareni, or “catch the thief”. The operation started last week and men now patrol the streets at night. “The crime rate was becoming too high in our area. We realized that the police cannot be everywhere, so we decided to stand up and fight against this cancer that is destroying our community. We do so by patrolling the streets every night as it is no longer safe to walk out there,” said Matshusa.

He said criminals had taken over the village, where they roam 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. He said the area had become one of the worst crime zones in the Sinthumule area. “We are here as concerned citizens of this area. We need to put our heads together and see if we can come up with strategies that can help us fight crime. Our area has become a dangerous place to live in,” he said.

“It is not only Zimbabweans that are involved in crime, but even our children are involved. What we need is that all foreign nationals be registered, so that it will be easy to trace them if they commit a crime. 

Even if they run away, they will be traced back to their own countries,” he said.
Const Thilivhali Malowa of the Tshilwavhusiku SAPS said that they were encouraged that the community had shown the willingness to work hand in hand with the police.

“We encourage our communities to come forward with any information that could be used to prosecute perpetrators of crime successfully and (we promote the idea) that communities organize themselves into policing forums that will help fight crime,” she said.