The Mpumalanga DA has called for the establishment of a second police station to cater for the people of Pienaar, famously known as Spy.
Its caucus leader, Bosman Grobler, said: “The latest crime statistics, especially the abducting and murder of women and children, show there is a need for a second police station in this area.”
Grobler made this statement before the Mpumalanga premier, Mandla Ndlovu’s maiden address at the opening of the seventh Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature when the opposition party had expected him to delve more into the establishment of the police station in his address.
“The latest crime statistics show the Pienaar Police Station is ranked in the top 30 stations in the country for various criminal activities. It is critical that a second police station in this area be built as a matter of urgency.
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According to the City of Mbombela’s final Integrated Development Plan Report for 2017 to 2022, the Pienaar area is the highest crime spot in the Ehlanzeni region.
The report states that this is attributed to the lack of adequate police stations and the lack of capacity within the existing police force and inadequate access roads within Pienaar. With a population of over 129 000, this township definitely needs a second police station,” he said.
Moreover, the Mpumalanga DA’s spokesperson for women, youth and persons with disabilities, Tersia Marshall, has called on the public to stand against the murder of women and children in the township.
“As we enter National Women’s Month in August, the DA calls on all men to stand up and speak out against the surge of the murder of women and children.
In the past two months alone, six bodies, including three young women over the age of 20 and three children between the ages of three and 16, were found burnt, decapitated or buried in shallow graves around the crime-infested Pienaar.
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At least four suspects were arrested for the murders, of whom one died in hospital after some community members had assaulted him.
This has raised the urgent need for men in the area and around the province to stand up and address this pervasive issue. We call for the show of solidarity with women and children by protecting them and exposing the perpetrators.
The police can never solve these issues if communities, especially men, do not get involved and help,” Marshall said.
