05 Nov 2017

Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi has urged residents of Lerala to report defilement incidents to the police.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Lerala on November 2, Mr Kgathi said most drop out cases recorded in schools were due to defilement yet they were not reported to the police.

He said some schools record a high number of students who drop out of school due to pregnancy yet the statistics do not tally with the police records.

“This is a clear demonstration that defilement cases go unreported,” he said.

He said parents prefer to talk to families of those who impregnated their children and get them to pay for the damage, yet such people violated the law.

Minister Kgathi called on parents to desist from encouraging their children to engage in relationships with elderly people, saying they were equally responsible for the offence.

He warned them that his ministry had considered to amend the law to increase the defilement from 16 years to 18 years.

On other issues, Mr Kgathi said stock theft was very high in the area with 40 cases recorded in 2016 and 94 cases to date.

Mr Kgathi warned those who steal stock that the ministry was in the process of reviewing stock theft act to increase stock theft penalty from five years to 15 years imprisonment.

He said government will in addition confiscate trading licenses of butchery owners involved in stock theft.

Mr Kgathi who is also MP for Bobonong  urged residents of Lerala to report any form of crime to the police.

He said the community was the one that could make the job easier for the police by reporting crime to the police.

He said parents should also desist from accepting stolen goods from their children as that could result in stiff penalties.

In some instances, the minister said some members of the public contribute to criminal activities citing the illegal recruitment of illegal immigrants.

He said expatriates who work in the country should have work permits as such the community should abide by the law and follow the right channel if they want to recruit expatriates.

Mr Kgathi said  police were yet to raid the cattleposts and would take action against anyone who hires illegal immigrants at their cattleposts or accommodates them, adding “ignorance of the law is not a defence."

He urged the community, churches, dikgosi and other stakeholders to join hands with the police to fight crime. ENDS