WITH a spate of unabated mass killings in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Premier Thami Ntuli evoked Struggle heroes’ spirits telling community members to be fearless in confronting crime just like how Nelson Mandela and Mangosuthu Buthelezi dealt with apartheid.

Addressing approximately 100 newly appointed police community policing forum (CPF) members from Loskop near Ladysmith in a meeting held in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday, Ntuli cautioned against vigilantism, saying the CPFs should instead inform the police about criminals who live among them.

He said the late IFP founding leader also went through difficult times during the Struggle, including house arrest and some attempts on his life, but ended a Struggle legend whose heroic Struggle role earned recognition from former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda.

“Since (almost) all people who fought for this country are gone, should we be called cowered for being threatened by few people while there are thousands of us in the community?

“We should decide that if we have to die we should not die like cowards,” he said.

The meeting was in reaction to a series of mass murders dating many years ago, including five people in October last year. Five suspects were nabbed after a swift police manhunt.

Three others, a father, his son, and a daughter of the Mdakane family were killed on Sunday in what was believed to be linked to stock theft.

Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality Councillor, Delani Khanyile, said his brother Thokozani was killed on New Year’s Day.

Ntuli said the CPF members should remember that the pain Mandela endured before becoming the first democratic president contributed to his lasting legacy.

The rural village of Emangweni in Loskop has been under siege for years because of mainly stock theft and drug-related crimes, including mass murders.

The community would form vigilante groups, known as the Community Crime Prevention Associations (CCPA), apprehend suspected criminals and beat them to death.

Ntuli said this would lead to family members of murdered suspected criminals avenging and they were now living with a vicious cycle that many generations endured.

He said the Mdakane family was killed after it was suspected that one of its members had been involved in cattle theft.

“His family members were killed after they refused to reveal his whereabouts (to people who visited their home).

“The CCPA should change the way they deal with crime and stop committing crime while solving crime, instead they should work with police,” said Ntuli.

He said he would intervene wherever there were concerns that police were not acting swiftly when informed about crime.

The CPF members said to be able to fight crime, they would require two-way radios, reflector jackets, torches, cellphone data, and drones, among other tools of trade.

They also requested high mast lights and CCTV cameras to be installed in their area, especially near the Lesotho borderline, which was a route for thieves crossing with cattle.

Ntuli said the provincial government was still considering giving CPF members stipends.

CPF members also raised that the high rate of unemployment among young people in the village, which is rife with school dropouts, was the cause for the crime spiralling out of control.

“We need young people to be provided with skills through a TVET college to be able to earn an honest living,” said one of them.

Another one, Zimbili Mazibuko, said girls as young as 17 would quit school to get married and when their husbands die leaving them with children to raise as single mothers, they would enter into romantic relationships with rich criminals for financial support.

“These girls would not report criminal activities committed by their boyfriends just because these criminals support them financially,” she said.

When asked about the persisting load reduction and load shedding that occurred at the weekend, Ntuli told journalists that one of the ways to deal with the electricity problem was for community members to stop illegal connections.

“Some of the problems are manufactured by ourselves as the rate of illegal connection is skyrocketing,” he said.

He recently received a complaint about a village, which had been without electricity for a while after the damage to a transformer. He said he referred the matter to Eskom, which later gave him a report blaming the community members.

“For that transformer, only 10% was paying for electricity.

“How then do we expect Eskom to survive when we do not understand that these are our services and we have to pay, and when we are indigent, we have to apply.

“We have a problem that we have to address with our people so that they do not deprive themselves of the services because, for those who are paying, it is very unfortunate for them to suffer the consequences of illegal connection,” said Ntuli.

bongani.hans@inl.co.za