Thohoyandou Block F now crime hot spot

Thohoyandou Block F has been identified as a crime hot spot, said the police's cluster commander, Gen NJ Baloyi.

During a meeting with residents at the Thohoyandou Technical High School last Friday evening, Baloyi stressed the fact that very few crimes took place at Thohoyandou Block C, but the seriousness and gravity of the crimes made the area a crime hot spot. He said that most of the crimes which were reported in the area threatened the lives of people.

He further indicated that although the partnership between the residents of Block F and the police was good, there was no unity among the residents. He expressed concern that while two ethnic groups were staying in the aea, the black population and the Indian community were each minding their own business and did not cooperate with each other in an effort to safeguard the area.

According to him, elders and children who stayed at home alone were more vulnerable to crime, and criminals regarded them as soft targets. He appealed to the residents to include the Indians in their community structures such as the community policing forum, street committees and Sanco.

During the event, some residents complained that they were denied the right to report criminal cases at the police station of their own choice, saying they were forced to report cases at their nearest police stations.

When responding, Baloyi stated that everyone had the right to report cases anywhere in South Africa and that any police officer who denied the residents such a right must be reported to the higher authorities. During the meeting, residents also appealed to the police to patrol the roads at Saselemani, Malamulele and Thohoyandou regularly, saying numerous armed robbery cases had taken place along these roads in the recent past.

After the meeting, a member of the Indian community, Mr Shoeb Ahmed, said that he was happy that at long last there would be unity among all residents of Thohoyandou Block F.

Date:30 April 2015

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

Read: 8073