12 Mar 2018

Officer Commanding District No. 2, Mr Paul Molapisi says there is need to revive and grow cluster policing as a way of preventing crime.

Mr Molapisi said this during a crime prevention workshop organised for Dikgosi under district No. 2 area of jurisdiction.

“Cluster policing used to be very active and efficient in our district.

Let us work together, go back and revive our crime prevention committees as they have potential to reduce crime,” he said.

Mr Molapisi however commended the existing cluster committees, saying that they had gone a long way in combating crime.

He noted that through engagements of cluster policing members, it was possible for the police to achieve the proactive approach in wiping out crime.

“We are calling for proactive approach in wiping out crime, as we need to stop reactive approach.

We must all take responsibility in ensuring that we assist one another in combating crime,” he said.

He highlighted that there was a group of gangsters, mostly the youth, who call themselves Boko Haram, who are terrorising the community.

The senior police officer appealed to dikgosi to take full responsibility and revive the spirit of unity in communities to combat crime.

“We are calling for zero tolerance of crime.

If we do not work together as partners, crime rate is bound to escalate,” he said.

He noted that there was need to map a way forward to achieve great change in villages.

Mr Molapisi said gender based violence was high in the district and remained unreported because such cases involve relatives.

Sharing his observation, Pastor Leonard Marumo of Holiness Union Church concurred that it was true that gender based violence cases were prevalent in churches. He noted that the problem was that people shy away from reporting them as they are known to be Christians.

“Currently, I am attending to 22 couples, which shows the extent to which cases are prevalent,” he said.

He pleaded with the police to visit churches, adding that the church could provide assistance in terms of reaching out to the community.

“We need to find ways of how best we can use churches as a platform to educate the people,” he said. Ends