Cops ‘sleep on job’
RESIDENTS of Balloon in Sekororo outside Tzaneen have accused the police in their area of "snoring on the job". This is not the only community in the province that is far from happy with the service of the police.
Alex Matlala
LIMPOPO – RESIDENTS of Balloon in Sekororo outside Tzaneen have accused the police in their area of “snoring on the job”.
This is not the only community in the province that is far from happy with the service of the police.
By his own admission, Mopani cluster police commander, Brig Tom Shingange, said the police had received other complaints similar to those in the Sekororo area and had already made four arrests. “This was after residents decided to come forward with evidence and work with the police to fight crime in their areas. We appeal for the same stand from the community of Sekororo and justice will be done,” he promised.
Shingange said no one was above the law. “We arrest every criminal, irrespective of their status or position. It doesn’t matter whether you are a chief, a police commander, a school principal or a journalist; you abide by the laws of this country,” Shingange said.
“We will investigate and report to the community in no time, as long as there is evidence.”
The incident that set residents of Balloon off was in connection with an incident in which a 53-year-old man was attacked, allegedly for asking questions about the financial report of the Makhutswi Communal Property Association. The man, Sylus Mashumu, was severely beaten by a group of unknown people.
The group dragged him about 5km to the graveyard where they urinated on him, spat on him and defecated on him before leaving him for dead, lying on someone’s grave.
The following day Mashumu was found. He could not talk or move. He was taken to the Sekororo Hospital and had been discharged where he was in his families’ care, according to his daughter, Kabelo.
The attack on Mashumu came hardly a day after he was involved in a fierce argument with other farmers over the finances of the community. This after a committee elected in 2005 to oversee the running of farms allocated to them by the Limpopo Land Claims Commission allegedly refused to leave their offices after their term of office lapsed.
The angry residents wanted the police to arrest two people who they alleged were “dangerously armed criminals terrorising the villages of Sekororo and the surrounding area”. The criminals allegedly specialised in assassination and attacking people from their houses and on streets.
“We have given the police evidence regarding the escalating crimes in the villages. We have even given them details regarding crimes committed by these criminals. But instead of arresting them, the police drink and smoke cigars with them,” Kabelo said.
“Our question is, how do we fight crime in our area when those who are supposed to combat it are harbouring it. We want the police to arrest them or go tla nkga gosa bola (All hell will break loose),” Mashumu told CV.
Local headman, Sydney Mahlo, said they had arranged a protest march to the local police station to formally register their challenges.
He said the residents believed the police were working with the criminals. He alleged some of the criminals were allegedly paying hefty “prices” to make dockets disappear.
