Limpopo on fire

As the country was burning in more ways than one this week, Limpopo was no exception. It was ablaze with reported protest on the national route to Mogwadi and on the border with Mpumalanga on Monday.
Days earlier an operation by crime combatants focusing on hotspots across the city led to the discovery of a hideaway late Friday night that was suspected to have been set on fire as the forces drew closer.
From information gathered early yesterday (Wednesday) it was learnt that the usually congested R101 to Polokwane was altogether a deserted picture in the early morning hours with truck drivers seemingly avoiding the road and opting for alternative park-off in side streets in towns along the route during the night.

The R521 to Mogwadi was re-opened again on Monday after protest resulting in reported damages to municipal property in Mogwadi, some 60 km from Polokwane, earlier that day. Photos of scenes from the neighbouring town that were forwarded were not as compelling though as those of burnt-out trucks along the road in the Stoffberg area on the border with Mpumalanga.
On Tuesday morning Provincial Police spokesperson Moatshe Ngoepe advised that the Public Order Police was still hard at work by then to clear the road to Polokwane. “At this stage there is no reported incidents of damage to property or injury.”

At the time of going to press he said the situation was still quiet and that Pops remained on the scene to monitor the situation.
On Monday Molemole Municipality spokesperson Morongwa Pholoba said in a media release that the municipality has taken notice of the unfortunate riots taking place in Mogwadi wherein residents were burning tyres and destroying property. “The protest has affected the flow of traffic on the R521 from and to Polokwane. As a result of this unrest the municipality is unable to provide service delivery to some areas as this protest is putting the lives of innocent people in danger. We understand that the protest is in relation to connection of smart meters in Mogwadi, which would assist the municipality to deal with illegal connections as well as disconnection of electricity for residents who have been in arrears with their accounts. The municipality has, however, engaged the aggrieved residents in several meetings to make payment arrangements,” Pholoba said and added that the municipality is attending to individual cases and will keep its doors open to engage with affected residents to find a solution.

“Residents of Molemole are hereby informed that law enforcement agencies have been activated in order to restore calm and protect public property and looting of shops around the area. We would like to urge residents to be safe during the ongoing protest while the matter is receiving attention,” she concluded.
Responding to an enquiry from Polokwane Observer on Tuesday afternoon, Pholoba confirmed that the mayor and community leaders had a meeting where a resolution was reached that the protest will be halted pending engagements between the municipality and community leaders. “Although some municipal buildings were damaged, order has been restored with officials back at work and traffic flowing again on the R521,” Pholoba added.
Crime fighting measures in city
During Friday night’s operation around 50 law enforcers from the Police, Community Policing Forums (CPFs) and armed response teams in Polokwane got together to form a convoy trailing through parts of the city that were not included in the ongoing operation targeting other hotspots earlier that day. Friday’s crime fighting operation, under command of Polo­kwane Police Visible Policing Commander André Kotze, resulted in the arrest of ten suspected sex workers and their alleged Nigerian handler, eight persons caught drinking in public and four suspected vagrants discovered sleeping in the open.

In the last incident intervention by the fire brigade had to be summoned for a part of the dense vegetation along the Webster Street extension had been aflame. There the contingent was informed about the fire having been caused by suspected vagrants who fled prior to their arrival. An African National Congress (ANC) poster promoting a visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa, a vacant office chair, an item of underwear and a discarded travel case were among the items that escaped the flames.
Soon the attention turned to stop-and-search measures and was directed at, among others, the driver and passenger of a taxi steered without headlights along Webster Street. A block up a suspected vagrant was found in his sleeping quarters on a vacant stand on Grobler Street before the deserted facility at Flora Park dam, that was recently cordoned off, came under the spotlight.
Deep into the night the team of mostly men – joined by the odd woman – tread in places that would generally be considered off-limits to the general public, in search of elements that threatened the safety of the residents of the city. Way past midnight, and once the last suspect was booked into a Police van for alleged driving under the influence of a substance, they put their lives at risk to protect a sleeping provincial capital.
On Tuesday morning some of the team members were back at it again when they hit the streets in an attempt to take back the city from those responsible for an unsettling crime wave. Seemingly it is paying off, one arrest at a time.

Story/photos:
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YOLANDE NEL | observer.yolande@gmail.com
BARRY VILJOEN | barryv.observer@gmail.com