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News - Date: 01 June 2007
Murder, car hijacking, rape and robbery will now be history, as the dense bushes that used to be a hiding place for criminals were finally cleared up in a joint venture by members of the Vuwani South African Police Services and the dedicated community of Lwamondo last Thursday.
The police and the local communities vowed to put their busy schedules aside, to join hands in the war against crime. They spent more than three hours using lashers, axes, spades, hoes and shovels to clean up the notorious spot which has turned the local village into a crime zone.
The coordinator of the bush cleaning campaign, Insp Elijah Malatjie of the Vuwani police explains why the initiative was so important: "It was a common knowledge that criminals took cover in the bushes while preying on our unsuspecting law abiding citizens. We then held a meeting with the local community structures, including the traditional leaders, to find out the ways of getting rid of these criminal activities here. We then agreed that we have to clean up the bushes because they serve as a hiding place for the criminals. We are not doing this for name or fame, but we felt that we have a responsibility to create a crime-free habitat where our people will live in peace and harmony."
Malatjie added that several criminal cases that took place on the bushes have been reported to the police, in the past few years. "Our innocent people have been murdered, raped, robbed and their cars hijacked on the spot. For how long are we going to keep quite while our people continue to suffer because of the criminals who do not have respect for human life? We believe that what we have done today will be a strong weapon in the fight against crime. We want to warn criminals that they have no room in our community."
One of the concerned community members who participated in the cleaning campaign, Jeffrey Masutha said: "The initiative will serve as a strong warning to criminals that their days are numbered. We hope we will now be able to live in peace since the notorious bushes have been cleared."
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