With only four months in the hot and demanding seat, Limpopo’s tough MEC for Safety, Security and Liaison, Samson Ndou, is determined to reduce the crime rate to zero.

This became evident when he continued his Crime Combating and Prevention Consultative Mission by meeting Thovhele Kennedy Midiyavhathu Tshivhase and his subordinate traditional leaders. The highly fruitful meeting took place at Mukumbani Tribal Council building, outside Thohoyandou, on Sunday.

Dubbed "Speak to your MEC", the campaign was aimed at social involvement against crime and finding possible solutions from the traditional leaders on how they can assist in combating crime. The visit was also targeted at popularizing the Pledge against Crime, which is being distributed around the province. In the past few weeks, the MEC had paid visits to traditional leaders Sekhukhune, Mphephu, Thengwe and Magona.

Several unresolved cases of ritual murder and missing people have been reported in the Tshivhase area in the past five years.

"We cannot win this war by holding countless meetings in our offices and drafting strategies in black and white. The most effective tool is to go out there and meet the people who are directly affected by the crime. They know the causes and possible solutions. That is why I decided to go to speak to the people because I know that their suggestions will help me in finding solutions to the problem of crime," said Ndou.

He continued: "Of the 89 police stations in the province, I have already visited more than 30 of them, trying to speak to the members of the SAPS about their challenges and possible ways of addressing them. I have also realized that it is important to speak to the community leaders because they are role models who can easily pass on the message to their subjects. That is why I am here at Mukumbani today because I know that the victims of crime belong to the traditional leaders. I have already met representatives from the farming fraternity, and I will also meet other stakeholders like the clergy, political parties, community policing forums, schools, civic organizations, businesspeople and other community structures. There is a strong need to fight a winning war against crime because it affects all of us. We must stop pointing fingers and forget about political affiliation and concentrate on the possible ways of defeating crime, especially ritual murder."

Ndou said he was confident that Limpopo would one day become a land of milk and honey. "It is true that crime is taking its toll, but we need to build up the solutions carefully but surely. We will not succeed in finding the solution in one day, but it will be a process that needs hard work, tolerance and persistence."

Ndou advised different stakeholders to work with the police to root out criminals in society. "Although there are other police officers who are corrupt, there are others who are dedicated and willing to be instrumental in the war against crime. Report corrupt police officers so that drastic steps can be taken against them. We need to join hands to warn criminals that they have no place in our communities."

Thovhele Kennedy Midiyavhathu Tshivhase said traditional leaders would work hard to eradicate crime among their subjects. "We will do our best to assist the office of the MEC to scale down crime. Today marks the beginning of a new relationship between my traditional leaders and the office of the visionary MEC. We will surely win this war together."

Tshivhase encouraged his traditional leaders to preach about the dangers of crime everywhere. "We need to speak up against crime in our community meetings. We must not soften our hearts when we wage war against crime because crime destroys our nation."

Traditional leaders told the MEC that they are concerned about the escalating ritual murders, police inefficiency, the high number of illegal immigrants and drug and alcohol abuse, which seem to be some of the major causes of crime. The MEC responded by saying that his office would look at all the grievances and they would receive attention as a matter of urgency.