SHONGWE TO HOST ANTI CRIME IMBIZO IN MARITE
Marite:Mpumalanga MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Vusi Shongwe, will on Saturday hold an Imbizo in Marite, Bushbuckridge local Municipality. The programe is part of responding to high levels of crime in the area.
It will be the second time in two years that Shongwe calls an anti-crime prevention interaction in the same area.
As part of the build-up to the Imbizo, a Stakeholder Engagement was held in Marite on Tuesday.
Stakeholder meeting was also attended by the local police, taxi industry, community representatives, traditional leadership and other interested community groupings.
During these discussions, the issues that emerged is that murder, business and house robberies were high.
According to the police, the kidnappings of people who have received large sums of money through Road Accident Fund (RAF), inheritance or retirement payouts are seemingly on the rise.
It is reported that once the victims are captured, they are kept for days so that they can empty their banks to their captors.
The meeting also heard that business owned by foreign nationals are often targeted by heavily armed criminals.
Another emerging trend in business robberies is the usage of explosives by criminals in order to get what they want.
Some stakeholders also complained that residents do not trust the police. They alleged that some SAPS members collude with criminals and they also compromise information about crime suspects provided by community members.
Proliferation of drugs and illegal firearms also came under a sharp focus. Marite is also renowned for violent service delivery protests which lead to protesters closing the all important R40 Road. This often frustrates trucking companies and motorists who travel between Limpopo, Mpumalanga and neighbouring countries. Marite falls within Calcutta policing precinct.
MEC Shongwe will be accompanied by SAPS Provincial Commissioner Lt. General Semakaleng Manamela and other members of the security cluster.
During the Imbizo, communities will make inputs on crime as it affects them. A plan will then be developed to address issues raised including matters that were deliberated on, during the Stakeholder Engagement.
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