It does not make sense that rural residents of Ngobozana village and other nearby communities would feel unsafe when they live close to the state-of-the-art Lusikisiki police station.
That is according to community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha.
The multimillion-rand facility was opened to much fanfare by then police minister Fikile Mbalula more than five years ago.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to Lusikisiki and Ngobozana by police minister Senzo Mchunu and premier Oscar Mabuyane on Tuesday, Nqatha said: “I don’t underestimate the work done by national police in reducing all the crime in the area and successfully making arrests in some of the incidents like rape and other offences.
“But the biggest question that the provincial commissioner [Lieutenant-General Nomthetheli Mene] will have to follow is why the immediate villages like Ngobozana will feel unsafe given the proximity to the police station?
“And the lawlessness, because they are not too far from this station but there is a general sense of fear.”
MEC questions why Lusikisiki villagers still feel unsafe despite state-of-the-art police station
Image: WERNER HILLS
It does not make sense that rural residents of Ngobozana village and other nearby communities would feel unsafe when they live close to the state-of-the-art Lusikisiki police station.
That is according to community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha.
The multimillion-rand facility was opened to much fanfare by then police minister Fikile Mbalula more than five years ago.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to Lusikisiki and Ngobozana by police minister Senzo Mchunu and premier Oscar Mabuyane on Tuesday, Nqatha said: “I don’t underestimate the work done by national police in reducing all the crime in the area and successfully making arrests in some of the incidents like rape and other offences.
“But the biggest question that the provincial commissioner [Lieutenant-General Nomthetheli Mene] will have to follow is why the immediate villages like Ngobozana will feel unsafe given the proximity to the police station?
“And the lawlessness, because they are not too far from this station but there is a general sense of fear.”
Families of Lusikisiki massacre victims too scared to return home
Residents of Ngobozana, shocked by the murder of 18 people in a mass shooting on Saturday morning, have said they live like chickens (waiting to be slaughtered) as the sounds of gunshots have been heard across the village for years.
Nqatha said not only had the Lusikisiki police station been provided with sufficient resources, it had also been elevated to brigadier level.
“Those sounds of gunfire need to be thoroughly investigated so that resources that have been pumped in can be felt by the surrounding communities in terms of feeling safe,” he said.
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