The crime-weary Indian community of Thohoyandou has said enough is enough and are threatening to sort out criminals on their own …

This comes after a spate of robberies was reported in and around Thohoyandou and Sibasa, with many of the incidents directed at the Indian community. The latest incident took place last Friday evening, when a well-known business family was robbed of a box containing keys to more than eleven shops. This has sparked an outcry from the Indian community, who feel that police are letting them down by not ar-resting the criminals. They feel that the police are failing to protect them, even though the police station is just a stone’s throw from their businesses.

It is alleged that members of the Patel family were closing business at Spare City at about 18:30 on Friday. While they were about to board their vehicles, they were allegedly accosted by three armed men who pointed firearms at them. It is alleged that they concen-trated on the person who was carrying a box that contained the keys to the different shops, thinking that it contained money. While the robbers were still holding a family member at gunpoint, a family member who saw what was happening started shooting at the robbers, who then returned fire randomly and allegedly ended up shooting a pedestrian in the leg.  They also sprayed one of the cars with bullets before fleeing with the box.

“There is a lot of concern from the residents and the sooner the police address the issue of crime, the better, otherwise the community will think other ways to solve crime,” said Mr Abdullah Patel, a prominent community member and a well-known businessman, whose business was the latest target.

Patel said it was disturbing to find that with all the information at their disposal, police continued to drag their feet in arresting the suspects. “They have names supplied to them, the description of the car and most of the robberies are the same. They are committed at almost the same time of day and the possibility is rife that the crimes are committed by the same group, but with all this information, they are not doing anything to ap-prehend the culprits,” he said.

Patel questioned the ability of police to fight crime. “Are they simply implying that they have failed in their duty or should we call for the introduction of the army in our town? We think they will deal with crime decisively as we have lost faith in these police. Where were they when all these crimes where committed? The crime intelligence people must do their job and make sure that all the known criminals are arrested. We are not safe at all here,” he said.

He said criminals have taken control of the once-safest town in the country, changing it to one of the most dangerous towns where people now live in fear, wondering who will be next to be robbed.

Another well-known businessman, Ayub Madina of the Madina Group, echoed the same sentiments. “We are under siege here. Criminals are ruling the town and we do not have anybody to protect us from them,” he said. Madina said the community should strengthen the partnership that exists between themselves and the police and then crime would be curbed as criminals would not have anywhere to hide. “We all have the responsibility to fight crime and it is only through a united front that we could succeed in the fight against crime,” he said.
More than 20 acts of violent crimes against Indian businesses and families have been committed around the Sibasa and Thohoyandou area. To aggravate the situation further, the success rate by the police is not convincing, with no arrests being made in most of the crimes. “We have the right to know how far they are proceeding with the cases. We need to know if there have been any arrests or convictions,” said Patel.

The spokesperson of the police in Vhembe, Captain Mashudu Malelo, said they were doing all they could to curb crime and were giving the same priority to all the cases.