Picture: Supplied
Mpumalanga community safety, security and liaison MEC Pat Ngomane has urged parents to stop taking their children who commit crime to traditional healers for protection.
The fight against crime could never be won if people protected criminals instead of surrendering them to police, Ngomane told a safety and security imbizo in Leandra, where stakeholders within the justice, crime prevention, and security (JCPS) cluster met the community of Govan Mbeki municipality to address crime issues in the area, his department said in a statement on Sunday.
The JCPS cluster consists of the community safety, security and liaison department, the South African Police Service, home affairs department, justice department, correctional services department, and the South African National Defence Force.
At the imbizo on Saturday, Ngomane said parents and those protecting criminals by “using muthi” were defeating the ends of justice and thus perpetrating crime.
“What kind of parents are those who hide criminals in their homes while innocent community members become victims of their children’s doings? We don’t want to kill them, but to keep them in a place where their morals will be regenerated. So we ask you to please surrender them to us,” he said.
Ngomane said community members should not be spectators in the fight against crime, but should be part of the implementation of strategies for crime prevention.
“The development and success of a community does not lie in the hands of government or community leaders only, but it must begin with you. You are the ones who can bring change in the communities you live in.”
He also urged traditional leaders, healers, and pastors to use the space that they occupied to assist government “preach the gospel” of safety and a crime free environment.
The community members were also given an opportunity to ask questions with regards to issues of crime. They complained mostly about the selling of the drug Nyaope to young people, also alleging that some police officers were involved.
They said police sometimes delayed responding to crime scenes and alleged that some officers misused state vehicles.
They called on Ngomane to bring the justice department to explain the process of granting bail, alleging that some crime suspects were arrested for serious crimes and then were granted free bail.
Community Police Forum member in Leandra Tony Mlotsoagae said police should be provided with sufficient resources to service communities to prevent attacks and complaints by community members.
– African News Agency (ANA)