Residents of Mahikeng allege that police are involved in drug dealing in the area.(SABC)

The community of Mahikeng in North West is up in arms against drug-peddling in the provincial capital. The enraged community members say police are not taking action against those dealing in drugs, although they are well known to the community.  

It is alleged that at least three people have already died in the feud between the community and the alleged drug paddlers. The residents are supporting one of their own. Community member Katlego Sekeleko is still in police custody accused of murdering an alleged Nigerian drug lord.

Residents spoke with contempt about the ills caused by the growth of drug use in the provincial capital. Some are blaming foreign nationals for the infiltration of drugs in the area.

“The drug problem in Mahikeng has really affected me because we have brothers who have become hobos (people living on streets) and our parents have passed away because of the heart ache caused by these drugs. We do not want Nigerians anymore in our village because they have caused us too many problems.”

Police say they are working with the community to counter drug trade in the area

Community leaders are accusing the police of turning a blind eye.

“There are Nigerians dealing with drugs in our town and there is hear say that those Nigerians are working with some of our police. We do not want to fight on our own as a community because at the end of the day it will mean that we as the community take the law into our own hands.  We no longer want to take the law into our own hands. We want the police to work with us to fight this thing of drug abuse,” says community member Thebeitsile Matenge.

Meanwhile police say they are working with the community to counter drug trade in the area.

“Anyone with information regarding that allegation; our police stations are open, anyone can bring such information so that we can see how we can work on that information but I must say that really it is strange that we are seen as people who are protecting drug peddlers. I want to stand against that because we know for a fact that there are many people who were arrested across the country that are found to be dealing in or selling drugs,” says Brigadier Leonard Hlathi.

Police say the post-mortem results of the foreign national who was killed at his Golfview house are yet to be released and allegations that the man died as a result of a drug overdose have yet to be confirmed. 
Courtesy: SABC

EFF MPs will soon be barred from wearing their trademark overalls, hard hats and gumboots in parliament as the institution enforces its dress code.

Overalls, helmets and gumboots are among informal wear and headgear deemed inappropriate by parliament’s review of rules subcommittee, according to the final draft of the proposed guidelines.

ANC MP and rules review subcommittee chair Richard Mdakane told Sowetan the new guidelines were not designed with any political party in mind. “Parties and individuals come and go,” he said.

Mdakane said parliament’s rules state that MPs should dress in a manner befitting the decorum of both houses.
For more http://www.sowetanlive.co.za