The MEC for Safety Security and Liaison, Mr Ratshivhanda Ndou, urged communities to expose criminals from within the communities.

He was addressing a large group of community members who had gathered at the Musina Show Grounds during the official launch of a campaign against crime and xenophobia during the weekend. The campaign was organised by his department in conjunction with the local Musina Municipality.

The aim of the campaign was to discuss and share ideas on issues related to domestic violence, drug and substance abuse, xenophobia as well as human rights issues which have an impact on crime.

Addressing the guests, Ndou said criminals resided “in our midst and it is everybody’s responsibility to ensure that they are flushed out and exposed for everyone to see and know them”. He said crime had the potential to ward off investors and stifle the opportunity of the country’s economy to grow.

Ndou said it was up to government and community members to discuss and agree on a common approach and cooperation in an effort to wage war against crime in order to maintain peace and stability in Limpopo.

“I want to appeal to all community members to forget their petty differences and join hands in the noble fight against crime. Crime prevention is not the responsibility of the police alone, therefore the communities should be involved,” he said.

He also encouraged the people to take part in community policing to strengthen the relationship between the police and the community, which is a critical factor in success against crime. “I appeal to you to support the department of Safety and Security and the South African police service in order to eradicate crime from our localities. Let us join hands and declare Musina a crime-free area,” he said.

He said the department was going to consistently use all the resources at its disposal to ensure commitment to a sustainable peace and stability through the mobilization of all the people in the province. The MEC also showed his concern towards the xenophobic attacks that were like a plague amongst the South Africans in the past months. “In the past few months, our country has been confronted by a serious political challenge that resulted in innocents being attacked and killed under the guise of xenophobia. Today, thousands of women and children are presently destitute and sleeping in the open during this cold and vicious winter. Let us think about it; they are our brothers and sisters,” he said. He said the perpetrators of these evil deeds exploited the vulnerable sector of the people - the unemployed, the youth and people with little or no political understanding to advance their evil agendas. “I want to urge all people of this country to unite, identify, expose and deal with these people decisively in order to root them out from communities. I want to indicate that crime in its entirety violates our people´s human rights and we must indeed get all our people to mobilize against the scourge,” he   concluded.