Durban – MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison in KwaZulu-Natal Sipho Hlomuka has called for calm in uMkhanyakude in northern KwaZulu-Natal amid concerns over cross-border crime.
Hlomuka made a plea to the community of uMkhanyakude District to exercise restraint and work with law enforcement agencies in resolving cross-border crime.
This after four vehicles believed to be used by Mozambican nationals were torched on R22 between Hluhluwe and Manguzi at the weekend.
It is believed that some community members spotted vehicles with Mozambique number plates and gave chase.
It was reported that the occupants abandoned the vehicles and fled. The vehicles were torched. Last week, a bus was torched on R22 coming from Mozambique during a community protest.
The latest violence is 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 near the South Africa/ Mozambique border.
Hlomuka appealed to law enforcement agencies to crack down on the criminal syndicate that is terrorising the uMkhanyakude community, saying the increase in hijackings is unacceptable.
“As a 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 rather work with the enforcement agencies. We are calling for calm in the area of uMkhanyakude,” said Hlomuka.
He said the government was making a number of interventions, including increasing the number of officers deployed, beefing up the investigation teams, improving resources to fight cross-border crime and engaging with the national government to facilitate talks with the Mozambique government.
The departments said a series of meetings were being planned with various stakeholders, including the security cluster to provide a comprehensive response to the latest development.