We are afraid to continue with work - community police
MBABANE – Community police are now afraid to continue with their work in the various communities due to the current attacks on police, com panies and individuals by unknown people.
The leaders of the community police have said that the current prevailing political situation in the country has strained the bond they once had with the 5oyal Eswatini Police Service (5EPS).
Furthermore, they decried the fact that some criminals had taken ad vantage of the political turmoil in the country, hence the skyrocketing of criminal cases committed at the various communities.
The community police told this publication that it was now diffi cult to respond to people who had sounded the alarm as that could turn out to be a hoax and end up costing their lives.
They disclosed that the members of 5EPS were now sceptical whether to attend to people asking for help dur ing the night.
ROBBERY
/ast year towards Christmas, Con stable 'etective %ongani Maphalala was shot and further crushed by his car as armed robbers ran over him three times during the robbery of %uy Cash +ardware shops belong ing to Minister of Agriculture and businessman -abulani Mabuza.
The armed robbers went away with an unconfirmed amount of cash and the four of them have since been listed on the most wanted fugitives on Interpol.
A soldier was also killed at /on hlupheko in the /ubombo 5egion by unknown armed people who opened fire on him.
Also, another female cop, =inhle Mavuso was killed in the line of duty at the wee hours of the morn ing, last weekend while driving through the traffic circle with her colleague.
2n the same weekend, another cop Sibusiso Matsebula was killed by unknown gunmen who waylaid them along the Sigodvweni and Manzini road while on route attend to an accident which turned out to be a hoax.
All the police officers except the soldier were killed in the line of duty, no one has been arrested and the National Commissioner Wil liam Tsitsibala has promised that they would not rest until they were brought to justice.
CONDEMNED ATTACKS
Prime Minister (PM) of Eswatini Sipho Cleopas 'lamini, has con demned the attacks on the members of the police service and also prom ised that their families would be taken care of.
Worth noting is community polic ing emphasises proactive problem solving in a systematic and routine fashion.
5ather than responding to crime only after it occurs, community po licing encourages agencies to proac tively develop solutions to curb the immediate underlying conditions contributing to public safety prob lems.
³Community police are not remu nerated, they are just volunteering and many cases have been solved through their help,” said -abulani 'lamini, a Mbhuleni Community Police member.
THREATENED WITH ARSON, DEATH
/eaders of the community police have said that from last year when the country was hit with the -une unrest until today, they had been threatened with death from unknown people.
Furthermore, they revealed that they had also been threatened with arson on their properties in the event they arrested or reported some of the criminals to the 5EPS.
³Ever since the political unrest hit the country last year in -une where calls to have a democratically elected prime minister instead of an appointed one, the crime rate in the country has escalated and it seems some hooligans have taken advan tage of the situation.
³Since then we have been threat ened with arson by unknown people when instituting our mandate in the community areas,” decried -abulani 'lamini of /uve in the Manzini 5e gion.
³2ur work has become very com plicated to us and it is very difficult to even alert the police in the event a crime is being committed. The po lice no longer trust us as community police due to these recent police kill ings, this has rendered our constitu ency unruly,” said -abulani 'lamini of Mbhuleni.
%oth leaders of the community police have revealed that they were now afraid to continue with their work, but said they would not sur render but continue protecting the residents in the communities.
+owever, they both pointed out that they were now exposed to dan ger as they felt they no longer have the cover from the police which they had before.
CALLS FOR REMUNERATION
The leaders of the community po lice are calling on government to consider remunerating them as their work is very crucial in the eradica tion of crime in the country.
Furthermore, they called upon the members of Parliament to pilot a legislation that will recognise the work of community police in Es watini.
³We work day and night and we have been doing that with the 5EPS and the relationship has been fruit ful, as once notorious areas are now safe havens because of the commu nity police.”
Community police work was founded by the late Senator 5obert =wane in the s and in that time he was an active member in the /ubombo 5egion which later saw a decline in the theft of livestock, and most residents of the area still have great praise for his contribution.