The South African police (SAPS) has reinforced the fight against crime in the northern region of KwaZulu-Natal province, near the border with Mozambique, with more than 100 operational resources, the security force announced yesterday.
“The deployments are already in place to reinforce police efforts to crack down on vehicle thefts that are terrorizing communities in this district,” the South African police said in a statement at the end of a community meeting in Hluhluwe, Umkhanyakude district, northern South African province of KwaZulu-Natal.
At the meeting, local communities “raised their concern about the number of vehicles stolen and smuggled into Mozambique”, said the South African police in the statement to which Lusa had access.
Last week, several vehicles, including a luxury bus and a truck from Mozambique, were burned in that area.
“Making the law into your own hands by setting fire to vehicles will only exacerbate the problem”, explained the national police commissioner, Fannie Masemola, at the meeting with the people, stressing that the police have “detachments and interventions at the national level that guarantee the increase and improving police visibility”.
“More than 100 police officers have been deployed to the area since Sunday, but in the long term we are going to create a permanent unit here, made up of the vehicle investigation unit and other specialized ones”, he underlined.
The South African National Police Commissioner assured local communities that “SAPS is committed and will continue to engage the Mozambican Government to ensure the collective implementation of lasting solutions to repress vehicle theft syndicates”.
The meeting with local communities in the northeast region of the country, close to the border with Mozambique, was attended by representatives of the Consulate General of Mozambique, in Johannesburg, according to a spokeswoman for the national command of the South African police to Lusa.
