Angry residents speak out

POLOKWANE – Westenburg residents are fuelled with anger following allegations in a local newspaper that older men in the suburb have sex with the young girls of the area in exchange for drugs.

Several residents confirmed that drugs were a problem in their community and that this needed to be addressed, starting with getting rid of the drug dealers in Westenburg. However, according to the residents, the accusations made by a local business person in the recent local newspaper article were unfounded, slanderous and sensational.

Capt Mamphaswa Seabi, a provincial police spokesperson, confirmed that the police had no information of girls having sex for drugs in Westenburg or any other area in and around Polokwane.

Joosuf Pema, a concerned resident and member of the Westenburg Community Policing Forum (WCPF), said he contacted the newspaper that published the article and asked that their source help the WCPF and police to identify the perpetrators so that the matter could be investigated, and with enough information, possibly lead to arrests.

“But with no success. The editor claimed that her source did not want to discuss the matter. It upsets me and the community that this person is willing to splash such sensitive information in a community newspaper, but is not willing to assist in rooting out the problem in our community by sharing the knowledge with the police or WCPF,” Pema said.

Review spoke to some prominent older men in Westenburg about the matter and they were outraged with the allegation.

A 49-year-old businessman, said: “I have been living in Westenburg for more than 30 years and have never heard of older men sleeping with young girls in exchange for drugs.

“The newspaper article generalises, is not factual and makes unfounded allegations. Who do they consider as prominent and what age is old? I know a lot of prominent ‘old’ men in our community and none of them are guilty of this allegation. I myself am an older man and I can guarantee that I do not do what they imply”.

A man in his late 30’s said there were young girls who flirted with older man at the night club to get them to buy them alcohol.

“These girls charm the older men, whether they are married or not, in order to buy them drinks and also give them money. I cannot confirm that these girls sleep with these men, but they do flirt. I have also seen a lot of young girls sky high on drugs late at night or in the early hours of the morning just before the club closes. This causes great concern for me because these girls make themselves vulnerable being in such a state of mind; anything can happen to them,” the man said.

Review spoke to Westenburg girls aged between 14 and 20 and they said: “it is not true that girls sleep with guys in order to get money for drugs. They flirt to get the guys to buy them drinks. We know of some girls who sleep with older men, but these guys are their ‘sugar daddies’, who give them money and buy them clothes. These guys are also not just from Westenburg; girls target any guy with money whether he is from Westenburg or a visitor in Westenburg”.

Review spoke to known drug dealers in the community and they claimed that they did not sell drugs to children.

“We only sell our goods to those who are out of school and have money, because we do not sell our stuff on credit, strictly cash only. The reason we don’t sell to children is because we are parents and do not want to see these children destroy their futures by getting involved in drugs,” the drug dealers said.

Another accusation made by the “business person” in the article, was that the police tipped off syndicates when there were police operations in the area. The drug dealers denied this allegation.

“We do not work with the cops, because they are not our friends. They expect something in return for their information and we are not willing to share our profits. The police have raided our spots several times; we have been arrested and paid fines. So no, we do not work with the police,” the drug dealers said.

Seabi said the police did not work with criminals but against them and if there was any police official who worked with criminals, the community should give this information to the police for investigation and further steps would be taken.

“Westenburg is not considered a drug hotspot and drugs are not only in Westenburg. Drugs remain our enemy in schools, urban and rural places and we can only defeat this enemy when communities work hand-in-hand with the police and parents take full control of their children,” Seabi said.