The Ministry of Police has commissioned a clean-up campaign by the South African Police Service, to convincingly deal with drugs and other drug related crimes in Mahikeng in the North West.
This intervention comes as a response to the safety concerns raised by community members during a Ministerial Crime Prevention Imbizo held on Saturday, 2 April 2022 in Lonely and Montshioastad villages in Mahikeng.
The Imbizo, hosted by the Police Minister, General Bheki Cele, his Deputy Cassel Mathale as well as National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola and SAPS top management from national and the North West province, comes three weeks after the Presidential Imbizo was hosted in the same area. It is at this engagement in March, where Minister Cele committed to return to the area, to address the crime concerns of the community.
“In our last visit with the President to this area, you as a community sharply raised concerns around drug related crimes. As the police we knew we had to respond and respond fast especially to allegations around the overall slow response of the SAPS and at times some officers turning a blind eye or even being in the pockets of drug dealers.”
Minister Cele has ordered for a full clean-up campaign in Mahikeng as an immediate response to some allegations by some community members.
Some of the residents told the Minister that they believe the influx of illegal foreign nationals in the area is fueling the drug trade.
“It is clear, from what we have heard from this community, cleaning up Mahikeng must be done as a matter of urgency, Commissioner, please urgently activate policing interventions to flush out the streets of Mahikeng from criminality, let the SAPS partner with counterparts in other departments especially in immigration and show anyone who is in the country illegally the door. We are clear on this one, anyone who is in the country illegally must be sent back to where they came from. Your operations Commissioner, should restore law and order and build public confidence whilst ensuring that whoever is manufacturing or selling drugs, are not spared.”
Minister Cele has also called for a diagnostic report on the Mahikeng precinct from the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service. He has instructed the Secretariat; which plays an oversight role in the resourcing of the police service, to report back to the Ministry in two weeks, on the capacity of the Mahikeng police station and its ability to service the community.
