Ladanna, Westenburg and Seshego’s safety under the spotlight at Ward 23 meeting
Some of the recurring themes of the meeting was the lack of police presence in the affected areas, illegal immigrants that are said to be bringing drugs into the community, and break-ins that have the community living in fear.
POLOKWANE – “The days are numbered for criminals who think they have friends in the police who will protect them.”
These were the words of the MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Dickson Masemola when he attended a ward 23 community meeting, held at the SANDF commando lapa on 10 October. Representatives of the Westenburg and Polokwane police stations were present to hear the grievances of the community of Ladanna, Seshego and Westenburg.
Some of the recurring themes of the meeting was the lack of police presence in the affected areas, illegal immigrants that are said to be bringing drugs into the community, and break-ins that have the community living in fear.
One resident gave a chilling account of having his house being broken into on numerous occasions and not receiving assistance from the police with regard to the case. “Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary. Perpetrators can come into your home where you are supposed to feel safe and the police arrive late to attend to the scene,” he said. He added that when the community takes matters into their own hands, they are painted as those who are in the wrong.
Another resident from Westenburg reiterated that the police do not attend to crime scenes on time, requesting that more police vehicles be deployed in that area. The community was united in calling for the removal of foreign nationals in their respective communities. One resident expressed the view that crime in the city would not be curbed successfully for as long as the community harbours illegal foreigners.
“We marry them and have children with them. When the police come looking for them, we are obviously going to hide them because we have formed families with them. I am not against foreigners, and we are not promoting xenophobia, it is the ones that are here illegally that are able to slip through the cracks because they do not have proper documentation. We just want people who are not here legally to be deported,” she said.
Another area of focus was the rental village of Ga Rena, situated in Ladonna, where drugs and criminals are being harboured, the meeting heard. “That place is crime-infested. If police are looking for stolen vehicles, they will find them there. If you are looking for stolen goods, that’s the place to search. Every week there are a number of break-ins but you will never see police patrolling that area,” added a resident.
The Chairperson of the CPF in Ladonna, Johan Duvenhage explained that the challenge in Ladanna and Polokwane is, on the contrary, local residents and not foreigners. “The foreigners send in local guys to do their dirty work. The police do make arrests but in court, they are released again. This leaves the police and the CPF back at square one.”
Cluster Commander, Major-General Lesiba Mashilo explained that the issues that have been raised are not new and resources would be made available to the police.
He said that weekly follow-up sessions are held. “In Westenburg, detectives are being sent on a monthly basis to assist, but there’s a problem with cooperation from community members especially relating to house break-ins. It is the responsibility of the police but the community needs to assist in taking the investigations further,” he said.
The MEC reiterated continued efforts to rid the city of crime.
“We are going to win this fight without failure. If we give in to this fight with the small boys, we don’t deserve to be leaders.”
