The Northern Cape MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Mr Lebogang Motlhaping has strongly condemned the recent senseless murders that have occurred in the Province.
MEC Motlhaping said irrespective of where crime has happened or the type of crime that had occurred, it remained unacceptable. He has called on the police in the Province to sharpen and strengthen their efforts in combatting crime to protect the lives of the people and safe guard communities.
“I have engaged with the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS, Lt Gen Peter Shivuri, on these senseless killings and attacks, as more needs to be done to combat these criminal elements and stop them from increasing in our communities. The police need to find more ways to strengthen their efforts and fight this scourge attacking our communities,” said the MEC.
He said despite the challenges still facing the fight against crime, there was still a great level of appreciation for the work the police were doing in protecting the people of the Province. He added that the police could not win the battle alone, but needed the efforts of communities to report criminals and criminal activities to eradicate the scourge.
MEC Motlhaping indicated that crime was a societal problem and needed the community to join hands with the police to rid it, out of communities.
“Families cannot continue to bury loved ones at the hands of criminals that are known in our communities and we remain quiet and do not report them to the police. These criminals live in our communities and are known. They are not only robbing parents of their children but also families of their loved ones,” said MEC Motlhaping.
In some of the recent senseless murders, three youths were robbed of their lives in three separate incidents in Kimberley.
According to some of the recent police reports, 16 year old Tshepiso Thomposon was robbed and killed for a pair of sneakers and a jacket while in a separate incident, 17 year old Boniface Ndlovu was robbed and murdered for his shoes. In another incident, 25year old Thabang Sekonyela sustained three fatal stab wounds to the neck for allegedly not having R5 to give to his attacker.
We would like to urge the community to continue to work together with the police to ensure harmony in our communities.
If anyone has any information on these cases or any other cases being investigated by the police, they should come forward and report the information at the nearest police station.