BREAKING NEWS – Seshego on lock-down, eight suspects allegedly handed to Police

Seshego was on standstill yesterday (Sunday) when residents held a community meeting at Kings Complex in Zone 3 and later went on a manhunt in various areas where eight suspects were apprehended and reportedly handed over to the Police on the same day.
When Polokwane Observer arrived in Seshego early in the morning, Seshego Circle Centre, shops at Kings Complex and tuckshops were not operating as businesspeople had joined the meeting. The first suspect, who was allegedly assaulting his grandmother demanding money, was apprehended by residents in Zone 5 while others were arrested in extensions 71, 44 and 45, Makgofe and Seshego. According to Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Provincial Leader Jossey Buthane, the eight suspects were handed over to the Police after what he described as “citizens’ arrests”.
He applauded residents for coming out in their numbers as he mentioned that they would continue with the exercise until Seshego was clean of criminals. Provincial Police Communications Head Motlafela Mojapelo however said no one had been handed to the Police to which Buthane responded that Mojapelo was becoming a problem because he was the one who claimed that the gang group called ‘Burial 13 did not exist.
Mojapelo indicated that community members of Seshego had converged at Kings Complex in Zone 3 to discuss crime and drug-related activities in the area. A similar meeting was held at Makgofe village in the same area, he explained. Different speakers indicated that they had to hunt down all suspects as well as nyaope boys terrorising the community of Seshego and hand them over to the Police, according to Mojapelo.
“According to social media reports, the initial plan was to march to the local Police station but due to the heavy deployments of Public Order Policing (Pops) members at strategic points, they then apparently resolved to instead gather at Kings, Zone 3. Pops members were also deployed at the venue to monitor the situation,” Mojapelo said.
After the meeting community members indeed went to various places under Seshego policing precinct, especially to extensions 71, 44 and 45 that are situated in the periphery of Seshego township, looking for the people they suspected of being part of a group of people terrorising the community, Mojapelo remarked. Shops at the mall at Seshego Circle was closed for business the entire day as the owners apparently took precautionary measures, but the Police were sufficiently deployed and ready for any possible looting.
There was no violence that necessitated Police action and no cases relating to the protest were reported, according to Mojapelo. The management of Seshego Police Station and the community also held a meeting in which it was resolved to work together going forward, within the prescripts of the law, with a view of eradicating crime with all its manifestations in the area, Mojapelo indicated.

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RC MYBURGH | rc.observer@gmail.com
ENDY SENYATSI | endy@observer.co.za