The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Mr Mxolisi Kaunda, continues to prioritise cross border-crime in the Northern part of the province, having launched a massive community mobilization campaign to curb vehicle theft cases.
Yesterday (Tuesday, 28 March 2017), Kaunda visited Paulpietersburg (Dumbe) to address the rampant vehicle theft and stock theft cases in the area. This area is located between the border of Swaziland and Mpumalanga province.
Kaunda, together with the eDumbe local mayor, Majuba Mavuso, today started by staging an unannounced visit at the local police station to assess the functionality of the police station and to receive a thorough briefing the state of crime in the area.
The visit was part of engaging with the community to build strong structure and to forge strong partnership with the police as part of fighting cross – border crime.
Recently, His Excellency, President Jacob Zuma together with the Premier, Willies Mchunu visited Manguzi to engage with the community as part of cross – border crime fighting initiative.
This latest move by government is yielding positive results, with the redeployment of police task team across the border, activation of more than 40 volunteers and working in partnership with the SADF in installing concrete walls.to block vehicles from being crossed into foreign countries.
Addressing the community of Paulpietersburg, Kaunda called on the communities in border areas to close ranks and work with enforcement agencies in protecting the citizens and their properties.
“We have been briefed that the issue of vehicle theft is also rampant in the area. This is mainly due to the location of the area close to Swaziland and Mpumalanga. Today, we are here to assure you that we are attending and prioritising cross border crime. From Manguzi to here in the Swaziland border, we will work with communities to build stronger structures. We urge the community to work with the police and close ranks. We must expose criminals and reclaim our streets from criminals,” said Kaunda.
EDumbe Local Municipality has successfully launched the community safety structure. These structures are formed by representatives from voting districts, at ward levels to a local municipality level. Kaunda says the expectation from these structure is that they must work together with all other community crime fighting structures to intensify the fight against crime. Members of the forum are already active in the recovery of stolen vehicles and live-stock.