Fed-up communities threaten with mob justice

Community members of Tshiozwi and Gogobole have threatened to take the law into their own hands, should the police fail to curb the ongoing crime in their area.

One of the concerned community members, Mr Samuel Madzhuta, said that residents were fed up with the ongoing crime in the area and blamed it on “incompetent policing”. According to Madzhuta, residents accepted a vote of no confidence in the local police station, “since its members seem to be inactive towards combating crimes and only concentrate on family feuds”.

He said that the number of housebreakings, robberies, and theft cases in the area had reached an intolerably high number, but the police were dragging their feet to address the problems. Residents put much of the blame on a group of young boys called “Zikhanya”, and warnings had been issued to the parents of these boys to act against the culprits or suffer the consequences.

A community member, who preferred anonymity, said they were plain tired of crime. “Ours is a peaceful community, but young local criminals commit crimes during the night. People are too scared to walk in the streets during the night. We condemn mob justice, but people are tired of crime,” she said. She added that the Easter weekend had been especially traumatic as many robberies had been reported in the area.

The police spokesperson in Vhembe, Sgt Vuledzani Dathi, 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.

Dathi emphasised that residents should not take the law into their own hands but 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,” Dathi said. “Mob justice, and this includes burning the so-called suspects, will not solve crime since it is a criminal activity in itself.”

Date:06 April 2024

By: 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.

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