Residents at Ravele have had enough of the increasing crime in their village. They have pledged their unreserved support of a crime-free society, saying that they would root out all criminals from their midst to see to it that the thugs were locked up behind bars.
Ravele's community leader, Mr Gladwin Malema, said crimes such as cable theft, house breaking and shebeen violence had become the order of the day and was negatively impacting residents. "We feel marginalised and that the Tshilwavhusiku police are not serving the interests of the people."
According to Malema, criminals have taken over the village, where they roam the streets and terrorise residents at will. "We are at the mercy of these thugs, and we need to act in order to stop them in their tracks," he said.
The community also complained about the fact that the Justice Department simply releases serious offenders on parole, who then continue with their criminal activities all over again. "As a community, we sincerely hope that our anti-crime concerns will one day be answered for the safety of our people. Justice institutions know their mandates, and we put our faith in them to see to it that these barbaric criminals get fair sentences that equal their crimes. We are law-abiding citizens who strongly feel that government should be protecting our communities and homes. We have established our own patrolling groups to patrol the streets every night to put a stop to crime. With tears in our eyes we, the community, say enough is enough!"
One of the residents, who wished to remain anonymous, said that, as a hawker, she had been forced to give all her perishable foods that had to be refrigerated to her children because of cable theft. "Cable theft is affecting everything that we do in my house. I am sick and cannot fetch wood in the bushes. I rely on a stove when I cook, and my daughter is studying for her June exams by candlelight," she said.
Other community members complained that the police are ignoring them when crimes are reported. They say that, if someone cuts the fence and breaks into a house in the middle of the night, it should be regarded as a crime that needs to be investigated. Another resident who fell victim to crime said, after someone had broken into her house, she had followed the footprints from her house, which had led her right to the suspect, but she was too afraid to take matters into her own hands. "We are tired of these criminal gangs who terrorise us. We are no longer safe in this community," she said.