Alex Matlala
LIMPOPO – The police are supposed to protect residents against criminals, but the officers at Relela police station apparently need protection from the residents.
This comes in the wake of criminals unleashing a reign of terror against the police officers at the station twice in three weeks.
On Saturday, despite being armed with firearms, police officers at the station, that is supposed to operate 24/7, ran for their lives when thugs broke into the station. At about 02:00 angry residents marched to the Relela police station to report a crime scene. But the police officers who were at the station allegedly ran for their lives thinking they had been attacked, CV was told.
This was soon after thugs allegedly set alight a spaza shop in the village’s central business district. “The residents allegedly marched to the station after the police failed to respond to a crime scene where a spaza shop was set alight. But instead of helping them, the police officers fled the scene into the dead of the night,” one resident said last Saturday.
A police officer at the station who asked to speak on condition of anonymity, said thugs destroyed more than 100 application forms for social grants. “They kicked the doors of the office open and threw away tables, chairs and stationery before destroying them. The once beautiful police station resembled a pigsty after the break-in. The station was again attacked a fortnight ago, with date stamps, books, radio, batteries and other vital items stolen,” the officer said.
The residents have called for the removal of the station, claiming the police were sitting on their laurels while crime escalates.
A community leader and member of the Mathibela Royal Council, David Malatji, said talks are underway with the provincial Department of Safety and Security and the South African Police Service to move the police station to the Relela recreation centre.
“If the move proposal is implemented the station will be more accessible, convenient and user-friendly,” Malatji said.
Limpopo police spokeperson, Col Ronel Otto, confirmed that a case of housebreaking has been opened, and that a date stamp, radio and other vital items were stolen. As for Saturday’s incident, Otto said police are still investigating.
Previous incidents
• Recently, police officers at the station made headlines after they claimed they were attacked by ghosts. The station is built near some old graves in a grove of mango trees.
• In February last year, the station again gained unnecessary attention countrywide after the police allegedly killed three people about 200 m away from the station during a scuffle with residents.
Angry residents accused the police of failing to make an arrest against known criminals who had killed a teenager. The body of the teenager was found mutilated with her genitals missing. Residents protested to the police station leaving three gunned down.
