'Our village is not a playground for criminals' - Tshifulanani residents

In March 2022, three suspected livestock thieves from Tshifulanani village were caught in the act by members of the Mabangani community and badly assaulted. Fortunately for them, the police showed up just in time and whisked them away. They were hospitalised, but one of them passed away from his injuries. The angry community then set the alleged thieves’ car, which was left behind, on fire.

One of the survivors was arrogant enough to return to the village and allegedly continued where he had left off. When the villagers experienced the loss of yet more goats and sheep, they decided to embark on an investigation, which paid off on Monday, 30 October, when the culprit was caught in the village and confessed to stealing their livestock. But once again he was saved from the angry mob by the timely arrival of the police.

Community leader Mr Alex Ndou said another spate of livestock thefts had targeted local farmers. “On Monday, we as a community decided to investigate these thefts and a car, matching the description of a getaway car in one of the thefts, appeared. The car was stopped and, on interrogation as to why the car did not have seats and where the sheep fur in the car came from, the man, whom we identified as one of the thieves that we had caught last year, confessed. He took community members to the bush where the car seats and four goats were found. It was the arrival of the police that saved the man from the mob again as they took him away,” Ndou said.

The alleged thief’s car was left in the village. “I left for home, but while the residents were dispersing, they heard that the same thief was celebrating his escape from the mob with friends at a local tavern at Tshifulanani. They went mad and burnt the suspect’s car to ashes. As the leadership, we condemn this action, but when people are angry, anything can happen. Residents feel let down by the police who, instead of taking the suspect to the police station and charging him, took him home. Criminals should know that our village is not a playground, or they will meet the wrath of the community,” Ndou said.

Vhembe police spokesperson W/O Vuledzani Dathi confirmed the incident but said no case had been registered with the police so far.

Date:10 November 2023

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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