The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba has condemned the recent reported acts of vigilantism which erupted in the City of Polokwane where people were allegedly assaulted.
This condemnation follows the continuous reported complaints from members of the community that they are being attacked and assaulted by a group of sjambok wielding suspects.
Assault cases were opened and some of them were also arrested.
On 17 October 2017, all these people involved were invited for a meeting with the Cluster and Station Commanders and the Municipality at the Polokwane Police Station.
Community members came to the meeting armed with their sjamboks. They were immediately disarmed and one of them who was wanted for assault was also arrested and will be charged with assault GBH.
“As the Police, we are going to deal with any act of vigilantism mercilessly and without compromise but we welcome the contributions by any member of the community in terms of fighting crime, as long as that is done within the ambit of the law and that there are legal structures which are open for anyone to join voluntarily such as the Community Police Forum, the Sector Forum and the Street Committees,” concluded General Ledwaba.
The Polokwane CPF Chairperson, Mr Davie Botes has immediately recruited these group to be part of Sector Crime Forum and CPF respectively so that they can operate legally in and around the Polokwane CBD.
Anyone who can witness this illegal activities happening in the city, may contact the SAPS Polokwane Station Commander Brigadier Gift Makhubela at 082 778 7267 or the SAPS Polokwane Cluster Commander Major General Sam Mokgonyana at 082 822 8332.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
