LIMPOPO – Giyani mayor Thandi Zitha has criticised the local police for what she described as a dangerous lack of visibility, saying it is fuelling crime in communities within the Giyani policing area.

Speaking during the mayoral imbizo in Mavalani village on Friday, Zitha accused some officers of taking state vehicles home and parking them overnight instead of using them for patrols.

She referred to a recent incident in which an eleven-year-old boy had his neck slit by criminals who broke into his room as one example of a lack of police visibility.

Allegations of police vans being misused

“Some of the things that lead to these kinds of murders are because of a lack of police visibility,” she said. “We have heard that you take the vans home and park them there overnight, contrary to what they are meant for. You make them work for what your bosses want you to do, not for police work.”

The mayor warned that if this practice continues, the municipality will report it to the relevant authorities. She linked the alleged lack of visible policing to serious crimes such as rape and murder, saying communities feel unprotected while police resources are being misused.

“Our siblings and children are being raped every day because police visibility is not there,” she said, mentioning several recent rape cases in Giyani.

She urged officers to follow protocol and use the vans for policing duties to reduce crime in communities around Giyani.

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SAPS defends strategy and sector policing model

In response, Giyani police spokesperson Sgt Ridgewell Rikhotso defended the station, saying police visibility remains one of their strongest areas.

“On the issue of visibility, this is where we excel. Every day after our morning parades, we identify crime hotspot areas where officers need to be deployed.”

He said Giyani is vast, with more than 90 villages, making it impossible for officers to be everywhere at once, as that also requires the station to have more than ninety vans to cover those villages.

“That’s why we prioritise areas according to crime prevalence,” he said, adding that officers are visible throughout Giyani, including in town, where crime is more likely to occur.

Rikhotso also clarified that the vans seen in villages form part of a structured sector policing programme. Five sector commanders are responsible for designated clusters of villages and are allocated vans that remain with them at all times.

“The vans they are complaining about are part of visibility in the areas where they are seen parked, and the station is aware of their whereabouts at all times,” he said, adding that officers stay with those vehicles because they are required to protect the community in those areas.

He said the strategy addresses past problems where residents would be told all vans were out when they called the station for help. He referred to previous incidents of mob justice where communities sought help but were told no vehicles were available.

“The current model ensures sector commanders are available 24 hours a day to attend to complaints in their areas without delays,” he said, adding that this approach ensures police are present and accessible in communities.