Pretoria - Children as young as 12 in Jukulyn, Soshanguve, are allegedly recruited to join crime syndicates under which they are trained on how to use firearms for robberies and other acts of criminality.
The crime syndicates and gangs were said to be operating in the abandoned RDP houses from where they ambush unsuspecting victims.
This is according to DA Tshwane deputy caucus chairperson Sandy Khathutshelo Mbuvha, who expressed concerns over allegations that children were involved in the commission of crime.
Mbuvha said targeted children were at the behest of criminals, who “appeared to be setting up their crime hubs within local abandoned RDP houses”.
“Residents are not safe as they commute to and from work with daily attacks targeting their belongings. Courier and furniture delivery vans have been hijacked and bakeries are robbed of bread,” she said.
To make matters worse, rampant crime in the area has also stalled service delivery “as councillors and officials have to ask for a police escort to deliver services to communities”.
In March, City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba revealed that at least 11 municipal electricians had been attacked in Soshanguve since January.
That was after a superintendent at the electricity depot in Soshanguve, Benjamin Dube, was held hostage and assaulted by some community members while attending to a power outage.
Employees, according to the City, were robbed at gunpoint, held hostage and assaulted when they attended to power outages.
Jukulyn was pointed out as a notorious area for the assault of municipal employees.
Mbuvha said: “Crime syndicates within the area have continuously attacked and robbed local businesses and residents.”
She said that technicians and artisans were attacked, leaving essential services such as water leaks, power cuts and sewerage system blockages unattended.
“This has resulted in councillors and officials calling on the Rietgat police station, which is already under-resourced and stretched, as well as the Tshwane Metro Police Department to assist with escorts to the areas,” she said.
In most cases, she said, patients who called in for emergency services were left stranded as “ambulance services have their tyres and batteries stolen”.
“Some die as they do not receive urgent medical attention. Even social workers are unable to render the much-needed social services as they are being targeted too,” she said.
Mbuvha said the DA intended to escalate concerns over crime in the area to the Gauteng legislature, requesting for an investigation into the causes of crime.
The request would also be made for the legislature to play an oversight on the community and police station “to ascertain what challenges they face so they can be addressed through the provincial community safety committee”.
Pretoria News