Concerned communities from the Mashau area are calling on the police to step up and deal more decisively with the escalating crime in their area. They claim to have their hands full with criminals robbing their businesses and breaking into their homes.
Business owners are convinced that they are dealing with an organised band of criminals. A store, owned by foreign nationals, was apparently attacked recently by a group of men with guns and pangas. Several other businesses have also been robbed of cash recently and business owners say they have had enough. The robbers are also said to target vulnerable groups such as pensioners and women.
According to one of the businessmen who got robbed, Mr Shamir Azekal, the criminal onslaught in their area started at the beginning of November. Since then, he said, more than eight incidents of serious crime, including armed robberies at their businesses, have been committed. "This is just an approximate number. We have lost count of the crimes committed against our people. We are making an appeal for assistance as a matter of urgency," he said.
Mr Philip Mudzweda said that their homes were under siege too. "We don't feel safe at all anymore as the criminals wait for us at our homes at night. We can no longer sleep in peace; our homes have been turned into havens for criminals. Our lives are in danger. People are tired of this crime, and something should be done to address the problem," he said.
Police spokesperson Lt Col Maphaswa Seabi said they were investigating several leads relating to criminals targeting businesses. "We have had incidents where businesses were attacked and criminals just went to the shops and started attacking the owners as well as the customers, stealing some goods and so on. We have launched investigations, but we cannot say there is an organised group that is targeting businesses. For now, we regard it as crimes that are being committed in the area, but we have plans in place," said Seabi.