Enraged residents threaten to shut down police station
Community members in Mbuzini threatened to shut down the Mbuzini Police Station.
Fed up about the high crime rate in the area, residents have threatened to shut down the Mbuzini Police Station as they believe it is no longer serving its purpose.
Angry community members are accusing the local police officials of neglecting them. They claimed the police are always reluctant to assist them whenever they report criminal activities. Furthermore, the community accused the officers of colluding with criminals.
Jerome Shabangu said, “I was beaten by the six family members who are related to one of the police officers working at Mbuzini Police Station. They attacked me at my home on September 1. The police came, but instead of rescuing me, they let my attackers continue assaulting me. They assaulted and left me in a pool of blood outside on my yard in Masibekela.
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“I sustained facial bruises and injuries, my legs were swollen and I had internal bleeding. On September 2, the day after I was assaulted, I was kept from opening a case and the police forced me to withdraw my statement. It took the police seven days to take my statement, but the case is still pending.
“It really hurt me a lot, because the police are not willing to assist me. I just want justice to be served. The police must treat people fairly without doing any favours. I want my case to be investigated or transferred to another station,” Shabangu said.
A witness to the incident, John Mandlazi, said, “It was very heartbreaking to witness what they had done to Jerome. The sad part is to have members of the police not doing anything about it. At times when the police open a case, they don’t write their statement correctly and that results in having the case withdrawn or not being investigated.”
Another resident, Gwalagwala Mbhele, said, “We are tired as residents. This police station is not assisting us with anything. There’s a lot of crime in our area, but sadly the police are working together with the criminals.”
Attempts to get comment from one of the provincial police spokespersons, Brig Selvy Mohlala, before going to press, proved fruitless.
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