Gomorrah residents demand justice for robbery victim
"The rule is that when a person is found to have committed a crime, their shack is demolished, forfeited and is no longer welcomed to stay in the area."
Angry Gomorrah informal settlement residents marched to the Hercules police station on Wednesday to demand that the police arrest a woman and three men who allegedly robbed a man of R8 000 and two cellphones.
The residents threatened the police that if nothing were done, they would set the suspects on fire and would only allow the police to take them after they have been burnt.
Hercules police spokesperson Captain Bonginkosi Msimango said a 31-year-old woman and three males were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the robbery, which happened last week Friday.
Msimango said the victim, a 31-year-old man, was on his way out of the tavern in Malarebeng when he was robbed of his wallet containing R8 000.
“The suspects followed him and robbed him of two cellphones. One suspect was arrested on Tuesday and the other suspect was arrested on Wednesday.
“After the arrest of the two suspects, some community members from Gomorrah informal settlement marched to the police station to demand the arrest of the third, a female, suspect.
“They further furnish more information about the incident, which led to the arrest of the female suspect while they were still present.”
Msimango said the suspects will appear in the Pretoria magistrate’s court soon facing a charge of common robbery.
Victim Chester Thusi said the money he was robbed of was his last paycheque as he had been retrenched.
“I am not okay; I have three children and a wife who all depend on me, my mother also fell after hearing what happened to me. I just got retrenched and that was the last money I received.”
One of the community members who were at the station on Wednesday, Lindiwe Phoko, said community members have created their own rules to deal with criminals in the area as they feel they are being failed by the Hercules police station.
“The rule is that when a person is found to have committed a crime, their shack is demolished; they are no longer welcome to stay in the area.
“If a person who is banned from the area comes back, then we burn them to death because the police have failed us.
“The way that the police are handling crime-related issues in our community, leaves us to not calling them when the person is still alive but only when the person has been killed.”
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Another community member Lerato Mulaudzi said she was shocked that women are also involved in muggings in the area.
“This man worked hard for his money and just lost his job. He has children, a wife and a mother that he needs to take care of.”
Msimango said the station would like to discourage residents mob justice to deal with crime.
“Immediately when you participate in mob justice, you are part of the crime. We want to urge them to work closely with us.”
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Msimango urged residents to report any police officers involved in corrupt activities.
“Last year around this time, they marched here to complain about corruption, we met and asked them to give us more information about police officers alleged to be corrupt so we can do an investigation. Unfortunately, no one came forward.”
Station commander Colonel Peta Tsoaedi applauded the community for coming forward with the information.
Tsoaedi urged the community to work together with the police at all times to fight crime in that area.
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