Media Statement from Mpumalanga Media Centre
Corporate Communication
South African Police Service

25 June 2014

NELSPRUIT - The Acting Provincial Commissioner of SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General (Adv) Meshack Nogwanya said he is adamant that community participation could assist in the fight against crime in the province. He stressed that if the community could report all criminal activities witnessed, we would be able to arrest suspects without delay.

This comes after four people were murdered yesterday in separate incidents in the province.
· At Manyeveni trust in Kabokweni, a 46 year-old man was assaulted with an unknown object and later died in hospital.
· At Jerusalem Trust in Masoyi a 40 year-old man was also beaten to death with an unknown object.
· At Embalenhle Ext 20 an unknown African man was found dead on the street after been struck with an unknown object.
· At White River, police are in pursuit of suspect(s) who fatally shot a Somali national during a house robbery at Msholozi Village.
The deceased's body was discovered by his neighbour in the early hours of this morning.

In all the incidents the suspects are unknown. The Acting Provincial Commissioner requests anyone with information that could lead to arrests of the suspects to contact their nearest police station. "I am sure that if we can commit ourselves as community members to report these criminals, we can win the war against crime. These criminals are living with us in our communities and someone somewhere has seen them but decided to keep quite. It is only if we work together that the police can apprehend these criminals so that they can be sent to jail. These criminal incidents are tarnishing the beautiful name of our province. We however urge all citizens not to take the law into their own hands as vigilantism is a serious crime. The legal principle is to call the police to attend the scene as they (police) have vested powers from Section 205 (3) of the Constitution to prevent, combat and investigate crime," Major General Nogwanya said.

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Corporate Communication

SAPS Mpumalanga Media Centre