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The chairperson of the ZCDF, Mr Patrick Sikhutshi, says that members of the communities feel they are being victimised by criminal gangs. Photo: Kaizer Nengovhela.

Communities threaten to take law into own hands

 

The communities of Madombidzha, Magau and Tshikhwani are tired of being terrorised by a gang of criminals, called Zwikhaya. Fed-up residents blame the police for doing nothing about the escalating crime in these areas, crying “enough is enough!”

The Zoutpansberg Community Development Forum (ZCDF) chairperson, Mr Patrick Sikhutshi, said that the communities were the innocent victims of criminal activities. People are frustrated with the rampant crime in the area, where thugs are robbing and killing people with knives, stealing cables and breaking into homes and businesses.

He blamed “incompetent policing” for the increase in crime. “Thugs have been terrorising the community for a long time, yet the police drag their feet in addressing these problems. All we want is a crime-free village,” he said.

“Criminals live among us here in the villages and it is up to us to expose them and to flush them from our midst.” He said that when residents had burnt one of the gang members involved with an incident in 2015 and 2016, the crime had gone down significantly that year, but now new gangs were sprouting.

A resident of Madombidzha, Mr Dallas Mashila, said that they were tired of gangsters’ ruling their communities. He said that they had identified a number of groups and the names of alleged perpetrators and would be visiting their homes. “The problem is that parents defend their children. They live with stolen property in their homes. When we go and identify them at their homes, their parents come out and defend their children. We are saying to the parents, please stop defending your children.”

Police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said the police would spare no effort in the war against crime. “We will work together with community stakeholders, until we defeat crime. We are going to work on the information and hope something positive is going to come out of this,” he said.

Mojapelo emphasized that residents are not to take the law into their own hands but should rather visit the police station and request to form a community policing forum (CPF). “The CPF and the police will work together and see how best to solve the problem of crime,” Mojapelo said. “Mob justice, and this includes burning the so-called suspects, will not solve crime since it is a criminal activity in itself.”

 

News - Date: 15 October 2021

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Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Email: [email protected]

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