By OBAKENG MAJE

The residents of Magogong village, near Taung demand a satellite police station. They said over the years, crime has increased in their area and that affects almost every citizen irrespective of their economic status. 

One of the community leaders, Tebogo Morweng said, they had a satellite police station in their area, but it was shut down indefinitely a few years ago. Morweng further said, now crime is prevalent and they are planning a peaceful march to deliver a memorandum of demand.

“We are busy with petitions and we will embark on an awareness campaign. We will write letters to the North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Sello Lehari, North West Police Commissioner, Lieutenant Gen Sello Kwena, and the Minister of Police, Gen Bheki Cele.     

“The population in our area has grown and we need high police visibility. Also, there are some unresolved criminal cases in our area, so we will need an update on them. Most of the crimes committed in our area are contact crime and house-breaking,” he said.

Morweng said mostly, the community complained about stock theft, domestic violence, and house-breaking, which are rife in their area. He added, now people are forced to travel over 20km to Taung Police Station for assistance, which is too far.

“The community members alleged that, usually, the police don’t respond in time when called on crime scenes as they allegedly had no vehicles. They also complain about poor police visibility, while police officers allegedly utilised the state vehicles for personal use,” he said.

Kwena said: “We have a limited number of satellite police officials that, we are placing there. It is a fact that, more police officers are needed and it is part of our human resources.

“When you look at what the president and minister said at the beginning of last year, they talked about 10 000 police personnel recruitment projects. Those aspirant police officers are in the colleges as we speak.”

He added that, they will be coming out of the colleges around 15 December 2022 to try and address the shortages within the ranks of the police. Kwena highlighted that, they had a satellite police station in Freedom Park, Magogong, Majakaneng and Komomeng.

“All three satellite police stations were torched by the communities. We will always move the resources where there are hotspots and priorities. At no stage, we will have all resources that we need in the current situation.

“However, if there is a need, we have adequate resources to respond to those issues that might be raised. It is a fact that, more police officers are needed and it is part of our human resource,” he said.

According to Crime Stats SA, housebreaking is the most common crime experienced by households in South Africa. A total of 983 000 households experienced housebreaking incidences in the 2021/22 period. More than 41,9% of households are headed by women.

The second most common type of crime experienced by households is home robbery, affecting 155 000 households. 

Assault is the third most common type of crime, affecting 99 000 households. Data shows that the experience of crime by households has increased for housebreaking, home robbery, assault, and murder. The experience of theft of motor vehicles by households declined from 81 000 in 2020/21 to 42 000 in 2021/22.

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