Limpopo Premier Stanley Mathabatha dispatched a contingent of police officers this week to Nkowankowa village outside Tzaneen where six people have been attacked with pangas before being shot dead.
The first in this spate of killings were in 2014 and two people were murdered on Sunday.
There have allegedly been protracted battles between two criminal gangs, which have been terrorising the communities around Nkowankowa, Dan, Mokgoloboto, Bridgeway and Lenyenye villages for three years.
A group of armed men and youths calling themselves Boko Haram – not connected to the terror group in Nigeria – have been attacking people at night on the streets of Nkowankowa and Dan villages.
It apparently came to a head when another gang, Sankhinya, threatened to spill the beans about Boko Haram’s criminal activity.
After the latests killings, the premier moved swiftly and visited the area with Limpopo police provincial commissioner Lieutenant-Colonel Nneke Ledwaba.
Mathabatha described the situation as despicable and worrying.
“We will make sure that all those fingered are arrested and put behind bars, where they belong.
“We have agreed in principle with the police, government and other government and community structures to work with members of the community to ensure that the area is crime-free and that all the roads are user-friendly,” he said.
Community activist and chairperson of Dan development committee, Nickolas Shingange, told the commissioner and the premier that a large number of senior police officers at Ritavi police station, which covers the area where the killings took place, were in cahoots with the criminals.
“We know all those whose hands are bloodied. We are prepared to work with you.
“But, please premier, don’t send a boy to do a man’s job,” said Shingange.
Another resident, Hlopheka Shivuri of Mokgoloboto, whose relative was allegedly killed by Boko Haram, said: “Women are most targeted by Boko Haram in this community.
“Our children and relatives are raped every day while others are mugged and their belongings are stolen.
“Most of them do not report it to the police because they know the police collude with criminals,” she said.
Collen Ngobeni, a former Community Policing Forum member in Dan village, claimed Boko Haram was part a political faction in the area.
Limpopo police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said two people had been arrested in connection with the killings and that more arrests were imminent.
Ngoepe identified those killed on Sunday as Freedom Sephiwe Numero, 23, and Sekomela Fire Nkgapelo, 26. The names of others killed previously have not yet been released. Those arrested will be charged with murder.
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