People more law abiding – police

POLOKWANE – The city’s residents are clearly becoming more law abiding, says Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala.

Phala was speaking following a joint operation by the Polokwane and Westenburg police with the department of safety, security and liaison, Polokwane Municipality and community policing forums at the Sasol taxi rank in Church Street last week.

During the operation, the taxi rank was cordonned off. The police found and confiscated marijuana, two suspected illegal immigrants were arrested, and the municipality issued fines to hawkers for allegedly not obeying municipal by-laws.

Phala said judging from the low number of illegalities they came across during the raid, residents were becoming more law abiding.

He further warned residents not to make use of the services of street prostitutes, saying this could be dangerous, and citing two murders that took place some months ago.

“The people of Polokwane must understand that we live in a time where it is much safer to drink at home as merely walking a few metres during the early morning hours in any part of the city will make you an easy victim of crime while inebriated,” he warned.

He further mentioned that the Polokwane police’s document certification personnel were having challenges when it came to certifying documentation belonging to a third party. “If a person’s documentation such as a copy of an identity book, has to be certified, the person to whom the identity book belongs has to be present,” he said.

“It has been found that in some of the cases the certification of certain documentation without the individual physically present has led to cases of fraud.