Residents express their concerns
RESIDENTS of Mahwelereng and the members of the Mogalakwena Residents' Association, (MRA) marched to the Mokopane police station on Monday morning and gathered in front of the Mokopane magistrate's court on Tuesday, where the three men accused of having killed Charles Mgidi appeared.
MOKOPANE – RESIDENTS of Mahwelereng and the members of the Mogalakwena Residents’ Association, (MRA) marched to the Mokopane police station on Monday morning and gathered in front of the Mokopane magistrate’s court on Tuesday, where the three men accused of having killed Charles Mgidi appeared.
The aim of the gathering was to express their concern and disgust over the murder, and request the court not to grant the suspects bail.
Chaos erupts in Mokopane as the residents of Mahwelereng march against the latest murders.@PolokwaneReview pic.twitter.com/cJJbwES7YT
— Jolandi Potgieter (@JolandiP) April 7, 2015
The case was postponed to Thursday, at which time Bosveld was going to print.
William Mabuela, “Mokopane’s rightful mayor”, according to residents and the MRA, addressed the crowd.
“Enough is enough. Today Matjila was not granted bail; it is the start for them to rot in jail for the rest of their lives.
“We will be in front of this courtroom on Thursday to make sure that justice is served. We are sending a message to the police that we are going to implement the lawful court orders at the Mogalakwena Municipality.
“We are convinced that convictions will be secured and that the same culprit will be linked to all the former murders including the murder of the late Piet Pale, founding chairperson.
“We call on the government of Limpopo and the state president to intervene in this regard.
“We inform the justice department that if bail is granted they shall be held liable for the suspects’ lives and will be committing a discourage of justice,” he said.
The MRA expressed their condolences to the family of Mgidi.
The MRA issued a media release on Wednesday.
“We would like to outline the fact that these murders are a concerted effort by power, using Mogalakwena Municipality as a weapon of terror by silencing and killing those who are vocal and are ready to expose corrupt elements in our municipality, “in particular the leadership of the MRA and those who are associating themselves with us”.
“We are convinced that this matter reached its climax on November 25 when a large contingency of the police instated Thalfi Mashamaite as they mayor by force, without any proper documentation and undermining existing court order,” the media statement read.
According to the statement, Mashamaite terminated the services of the existing security company at the municipality and appointed instead the security company of Samuel Matjila.
Matjila is one of the suspects arrested for the murder of Mgidi.
