Marite community has no faith in crime-fighting imbizo
The focus of this imbizo was to redirect the youth from crime and towards a positive developmental plan that will assist in reducing crime in the area. The community did not seem to be swayed, however.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) held yet another crime awareness event in Marite near Hazyview on January 26, focusing on the high rate of crime in the area.
However, the Marite community does not think it will make any difference.
The provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Manamela, and the president of the House of Traditional Leaders in Mpumalanga, Kgoshi Mathupa Mokoena, were also present at the imbizo.
The national commissioner of correctional services, Makgothi Thobakgale, said the residents of Marite and surrounding areas are living in fear following a spate of violent crimes in the area. He also said he is aware that the area is under a siege. In October last year, a correctional official was gunned down in a hail of bullets, an incident that appears to have been planned by organised assailants.
“The imbizo consisted from young people from schools, to the community at large. However, our main goal was to plant a positive seed at a young age so children grow up with a positive mindset. We also realised that young people are the ones who are committing most of the crimes in the area,” he stated.
ALSO READ: MEC urges Marite to protect its schools
“Our market is young people and we want to redirect them from crime to a positive developmental plan. I am aware that there were imbizos before like this one, but as the DCS we are doing something different because we are not just coming to address crime issues; we are going to deal with unemployment, social ills and job creation. We are also going to develop a plan with the community to address all these issues. After this imbizo, we are going to attend to all the issues for the next six months,” said Thobakgale.
Manamela also said the police are willing to work with the community to curb crime and the residents need to come on board. She talked about the ‘stubborn crimes’ in Marite where despite the police’s intervention, they continue to occur. The hijacking of trucks, killings, business robberies and robbing of people are some of the crimes the police are trying to curb.
ALSO READ: Two criminals from Marite in Bushbuckridge receive hefty sentences
“We, the police, need to work with the community to fight these crimes. The community members know the people who are committing these crimes since they reside among them. They must show them to us so that we can deal with them. Within the police force, we have a witness protection unit where we can keep them safe until the case has been concluded. We, the police alone, cannot do everything,” said Manamela.
The community also expressed their dissatisfaction with the police’s work, claiming that the police are afraid of the criminals and accusing some of them of actually working with the criminals.
They also said they have come to terms with the fact that nothing will end the escalating crime in the area and even the DCS imbizo will not make any difference, because they had a lot of events like this one, but nothing has changed. Criminals are still terrorising the community. However, they continue to call for a drastic intervention to end crime in the area.
