HLUHLUWE - Additional police officers and resources have been deployed to the Umkhanyakude District in the Northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

The deployments are in place to bolster police efforts to clamp down on vehicle theft syndicates that are terrorising communities in this district.

On Tuesday, the National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola joined by senior officers from national and the province led a delegation of station commanders from police stations in the area to engage the communities in and around Hluhluwe.

During the engagement the community raised concern on the number of vehicles stolen and smuggled across to Mozambique.

Just last week several vehicles including a luxury bus and a truck from Mozambique were torched in the area.

Cases of malicious damage to property have been registered.

During the community engagement, the National Commissioner indicated that while the latest police statistics indicate that the theft of motor vehicle in the area had declined, and the number of reported carjacking cases have stabilised, more resources need to be deployed on a long term basis to reduce such incidents.

“Taking the law into your hands by torching vehicles will only exacerbate the problem. We have a national deployment and interventions that will ensure we heighten and improve police visibility. On a short term goal more than 100 police officers have been deployed to the area since Sunday but on a long term basis we will be establishing a permanent unit here consisting of the vehicle investigation unit and other specialised units”, said Gen Fannie Masemola.

The National Commissioner assured the community that the SAPS is committed and will continue to engage the Mozambican government to ensure that collectively lasting solutions are implemented to clamp down on vehicle theft syndicates. Representatives from the Mozambican embassy also formed part of the community engagement.

Source: South African Police Service