12 Mar 2015

Kgosi Oscar Mosielele of Moshupa has raised a concern over the increasing number of robbery cases involving groups of young people, commonly known as Matsetsenkane.

Kgosi Mosielele said during a kgotla meeting in Moshupa on March 10 that they had registered 43 cases ranging from robbery, common nuisance and unlawful wounding among others.

Out of the number, he said only 22 had admitted wrong doing and had since been punished while the rest could not be reached because their parents denied their involvement in the matter.

He thus challenged parents not to protect delinquent children from facing the wrath of the law, adding the idea was to mould them into law abiding citizens.

For his part, Moshupa police station commander, Supt Onneetse Gagogosha, said the culprits often lurked around bus stops, bars and clubs under the cover of the night with the intent to pounce on unsuspecting victims.

Supt Gagogosha noted that so far, they had registered a case in which two people were stabbed with a sharp object suspected to be a knife at Dladleng Night Club in Moshupa, while seven other youngsters from Thamaga were nabbed for common nuisance at Table Mountain bar.

Supt Gagogosha was worried that some parents did not monitor the movement of their children particularly at night, something which gave children room to indulge in unbecoming behaviour.

One of the residents, Ms Letlametlo Matupa also warned parents not to protect their children when they had done wrong. She said the same children would turn on them someday if left unchecked.

Mr Sesana Matlale advised the youth that rights went hand in hand with responsibilities. Table Mountain bar owner, Mr Reginald Keatlholetswe also expressed concern that the delinquents were giving his business a bad name. He said in most cases they robbed customers of valuables such as cell phones and wallets.

Meanwhile, Mmanaana Junior Secondary School deputy head, Ms Tebogo Mosweu called upon parents and teachers to work together to mould children into responsible citizens. ENDS