Durban — The South African Police Service has deployed additional police officers to combat vehicle theft crime in Northern KwaZulu-Natal.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said that additional police officers and resources have been deployed to the uMkhanyakude District Municipality.
Mathe said the deployments were to bolster efforts to clamp down on vehicle theft syndicates that terrorised communities in the district.
On Tuesday, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola led a delegation of station commanders from police stations in the area to engage the communities in and around Hluhluwe.
Mathe said that during the engagement the community raised concerns about the number of vehicles being stolen and smuggled across to Mozambique.
Last week, several vehicles, including a luxury bus and truck from Mozambique, were torched.
Mathe said that cases of malicious damage to property have been registered.
Masemola said that while the latest police statistics indicated that the theft of motor vehicles in the area had declined, and the number of reported car-jacking cases had stabilised, more resources needed to be deployed on a long-term basis to reduce such incidents.
“Taking the law into your hands by torching vehicles will only exacerbate the problem. We have a national deployment and interventions that will ensure we heighten and improve police visibility. On a short-term basis more than 100 police officers have been deployed to the area since Sunday, but on a long-term basis we will be establishing a permanent unit here consisting of the vehicle investigation unit and other specialised units,” Masemola said.
He assured the community that the SAPS is committed and will continue to engage the Mozambican government to ensure that collectively lasting solutions are implemented to clamp down on vehicle theft syndicates. Representatives from the Mozambican embassy also formed part of the community engagement.
Recently, the KZN Department of Community Safety and Liaison pleaded with the uMkhanyakude community to exercise restraint and work with law enforcement agencies in resolving cross-border crime.
The department made the call in the wake of increasing incidents of community revolt and threats of taking the law into their own hands in addressing the surge in cases of cross-border crime.
Over the weekend, four vehicles believed to be used by Mozambique nationals were torched on the R22 between Hluhluwe and Manguzi. It is believed that some community members spotted vehicles with a Mozambique number plate and gave chase. It was reported that the occupants abandoned the vehicle and ran away.
Last week a bus was torched on the R22 coming from Mozambique during a community protest.
The department said that the latest violence was believed to have been spiked by the abduction of a member of the KZN legislature and his family members. It is alleged that their vehicles were stolen, and they were abandoned in the bushes near the South African/Mozambique border.
MEC Sipho Hlomuka appealed to law enforcement agencies to crack down on the criminal syndicate that is terrorising the community uMkhanyakude, saying the increase in the cases of hijackings is unacceptable.
“As government we are on the side of the victims. We sympathise with the people who have been terrorised and traumatised by the criminals — the pain the people have been subjected to needs to stop. We are also following up on many cases including that of a member of the legislature who was abducted with his family. We appeal to law enforcement agencies to beef up deployments and crack down on the network of criminals. We are also calling on the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands but to rather work with the enforcement agencies. We are calling for calm in the area of uMkhanyakude,” Hlomuka said.
Daily News