Instead of folding their arms and watching while the community falls apart, the Ventersdorp community has decided to take a stand against crime and marched to the police station last Wednesday.
Khuduga Dibe says, despite the presence of both the SAPS and CPF, there is a high incidence of crime in this small community.
“The crime level has reached unacceptable proportions and has destabilised social life and households in the community. Strangely, the police are not supportive of community crime-fighting formations like the Ventersdorp Mphakathi.”
This non-profit organisation of community crime preventers is made up of men and women who have taken it upon themselves to reduce crime in Ventersdorp, he says.
Khuduga says the crimes that need urgent attention are rape, murder, vehicle theft, stock theft and domestic violence. These can largely be attributed to gangsterism, drug abuse and the manufacture and sale of drugs.
According to Khuduga, the community is losing the war against crime. Not only do the police discredit the community patrols, but the station commissioner is not willing to support them, either. He accuses the police of inefficiency, saying the SAPS releases the criminals that the citizens have arrested and ditches cases half way through the investigations. He adds that the community does not know the MMC because he is not visible.
In a memorandum of demands to the office of the minister of police and the MEC, Khuduga says the community demands an increase in police officers, intelligence capacity and police vehicles. The residents want the “Tag Ng” police station to be reopened and operate 24/7. They are also calling for WO Modisakgosi, who deals with community patrols, to be reinstated. The people demand that the police recognise and resource patrol members with reflectors, a vehicle and communication devices. They also want the authorities to support and capacitate the criminal rehabilitation programmes, he says.
Khuduga says the community requests their demands to be met before this Friday, 14 June.
