Some angered Matsafeni community members protested and blockaded the road to the stadium on Monday March 7. They demanded that the City of Mbombela and SAPS intervene in this area, as they feel crime is on the rise. According to them, criminals are selling land illegally and killing people. They allege that when they go to open cases at the police station, they do not receive any assistance.

ALSO READ: KaBokweni woman arrested for dagga dealing

A community member, Wisani Mabuza, said he was almost killed on Sunday March 6 by some unknown people.”They came to my home and opened fire. I have my family, including children, residing in my house. This is not right, because we have approached the police several times, informing them about the danger we are exposed to because they are not assisting, yet they are not doing anything.

They refuse to take our statements and refuse to come to our homes when we need them, but today, because we are protesting, they are here. This recent incident in my house could have been avoided if they had attended to us when we went to the police station to alert them about these criminals.”

Another community member who chose to remain anonymous, said, “We feel the police do not take our issues seriously. That is why we decided to gather on the road, so that they will come and listen to our concerns. We are going to get killed by these criminals who are trying to take over our community.

They are selling the land illegally, and when we address the matter as residents, they start using violence. When we call the police, they claim they do not have vehicles with which to attend to us. These criminals know very well that the police will not take us seriously, and we want the municipality to help, since it is in charge of Matsafeni. Something needs to be done before we are completely destroyed.”

ALSO READ: S’fiso S leads the fight against nyaope

The police negotiated between the leaders of the protesters and the councillor presiding over the matter. The protesters dispersed after they had submitted a memorandum to the SAPS. Read more in the next print edition of Mpumalanga News.