MALALANE – A report of Malalane Against Crime (MAC) was released this week urging residents to be vigilant. It requests that they be alert and to observe their surroundings when approaching their homes.
The report states that criminals are marking their next targets by means of scratches on gates and walls or piling rocks. MAC wrote, “These are a reality and used by scouts to point out targets to colleagues. They are not necessarily used by all criminal groups.” In a separate incident that the group feels is of concern to the community, the picture shows a panel van similar to one stolen in Nelspruit and subsequently used in a house robbery in that town, this past Thursday. According to the organisation three to four attackers were involved, and indications are that the gang is based in Nkomazi and believed to be armed with shotguns and handguns. “A vehicle registration number is unfortunately not available at this time and will be made public if it does become known. Please note that this is a fairly common type of commercial vehicle. These, however, have little cause to be around residential areas after hours, so please report any sightings of strange vehicles to the SAPS immediately. Please include the vehicle registration number with any reports. Photographs can be extremely valuable in such cases, so please use your cellphone to take a picture if safe and possible without being noticed.”
The report also shined light on why this has been a difficult task for the local SAPS, “The pressure is immense, as incidents are unpredictable and there are too few policemen covering a very large area. As a result, your involvement is indispensable. Please report all incidents of crime. A worrying number of recent incidents have not been reported to the SAPS. Doing so will allow law enforcement and associated entities to identify patterns and plan properly for prevention and mitigation of incidents.”
Please send details of all incidents via email to MAC, regardless of whether reported to the SAPS.
SAPS: 013-790-2721/0
MAC: 084-666-2468 or mac.malalane@gmail.com (for non-urgent issues)
