Criminals, beware!

It is that time of the year again when everyone seems to want the best for the festive season. It is also the time of the year when there is an increase in crime and towns have become havens for criminals where they hit on unsuspecting victims.

Criminals in the Thohoyandou policing area have been given a stern warning not to set foot in towns around Thulamela. Last Monday, hundreds of volunteers under the umbrella of Youth Against Crime, led by Thohoyandou Station Commissioner, Brig Willy Mashaba and other senior police officials, had a triumphant entry to the town of Thohoyandou. In a show of force and led by drum majorettes, the more than 100 youth marched through the streets of Thohoyandou CBD to Thavhani Mall and back to the station. During the march, police had time to interact with Christmas shoppers, tipping them on issues of crime.

Brig Mashaba said that they started the campaign some years ago after realizing that there is an upsurge of crime during this time of the year. “Every year this time we have this type of campaign with youth supplementing our workforce and we have observed that it works to our advantage as criminals become scared of the sight of police and the volunteers. We will be everywhere, and this is just a friendly warning to those who might be tempted to try their luck under our policing area. Be warned, you will spend the festive season behind bars,” said Mashaba.

According to Mashaba, the most common crimes during this time include theft from motor vehicles, pick-pocketing and robberies.

He further urged shoppers to be more vigilant as there are high volumes of shoppers in the towns around the Thohoyandou policing area. He warned them that they should not have large amounts of cash or leave valuables in cars that could tempt criminals to break into their cars.

He urged those withdrawing large amounts of cash to contact the police so that they could monitor them. He also advised motorists to double check if their vehicles are locked or not and to report all suspicious activities to the police.

Thulamela Business Forum deputy chairperson, Mr Eddy Singo, praised the police for the initiative, saying their presence would make their businesses safe and shoppers have peace of mind while doing their shopping.

News - Date: 15 December 2017

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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