Police management are expected to visit Mthatha on Sunday following a series of extortion-related activity in the last week, including the closure of a local school. Picture: AFP PHOTO/RODGER BOSCH
South African Police Service (SAPS) national commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, is expected to visit Mthatha in the Eastern Cape on Sunday to provide an update on police interventions to tackle crime in the area.
The visit comes following a series of incidents in the town, including the closure of a school and a fatal shoot-out last week.
At least four schools in the Mthatha west area were subjected to acts of intimidation and extortion.
It is alleged that a group approached the Laphumikwezi Primary School management and demanded monies to be transferred to them. This has led to the closure of the school.
Last week, self-proclaimed chief, Sakhumzi Dalinzolo Mareke, was killed in a shoot-out with police.
It is alleged that he and a group of men following officers from the SAPS National Intervention Unit (NIU) back to their base where a shoot-out ensued. Two others were wounded, including a policeman, and Mthatha police have since arrested one of the suspects who fled the scene.
King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo’s House of Abathembu claimed that Mareke was never a traditional leader or a chief in the Mthatha West area.
Meanwhile, police minister Senzo Mchunu said an operational plan, between provincial and local government to integrate resources to fight crime, will be put in place.
Delivering a statement during the National Assembly (NA) last week, Mchunu said Gauteng, KZN, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, currently carry 73% of crime levels in South Africa, the gravity of these crimes alone including extortions is of serious concern.
IOL News
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