‘Give us sjamboks so we can fight crime’
Despite business owners in the Central Business District (CBD) making an appeal for the return of the 'sjambok squad', police are adamant this will not happen.
POLOKWANE – Business owners have signed a petition with over 400 signatures in appeal for the group to be allowed to use sjamboks again, but Provincial Police Spokesperson, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, said this will not happen as they cannot allow “lawlessness”.
“We live in a constitutional democracy where the rule of law reigns supreme. The Community Policing Forums (CPFs) are a legitimate structure and people are urged to join to assist in the fight against crime. Anything else will be inviting trouble as indicated by cases opened against some of the people who form part of the ‘sjambok squad’,” Mojapelo told Review.
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Shaheed Salehmohamed, however, said they did register with the CPF in November last year and operate as CPF street patrol sector 1 within the CBD. As part of their registration, however, they may no longer use the sjamboks they were initially known for and they want to use sjamboks again as they are safer to use when dealing with suspects as it has a longer reach than the batons they currently use, Salehmohamed explained.
“We currently have the support of over 120 businesses who pledged to pay money each month to sustain our squad with a small salary and the equipment we need, such as the batons and uniforms. We urge all business owners to join this initiative as the more people who support our squad, the more people we can employ to prevent crime,” he explained.
“When we stopped carrying the sjamboks, we saw an increase in crime in the area, so much so that business owners started the petition asking for the sjamboks to be returned. Our members patrol the streets and take suspected criminals down when we encounter them. We then hand them over to police who take them into custody. Our teams patrol the streets every day, making the response time much faster if someone becomes a victim of crime,” he said.
Mojapelo on the other hand said there was no proof that crime increased after the group was no longer allowed to use sjamboks.
Another concern raised by Salehmohamed was that criminals are arrested by police but are soon released on bail to repeat the same offences they were arrested for.
He and Mojapelo both encourage people to report crime so that crime hotspots can be identified.
“The police are not mandated to judge any person and pronounce on their guilt. Their mandate is to prevent crime from happening and if this fails, to then investigate with a view of bringing the perpetrator to justice,” Mojapelo said.
“If people affected by crime open cases with the police, then they can see how much crime is happening in which locations,” Salehmohamed encouraged.
