Civil unrest

Tshepo Mmusi

Klerksdorp, Jouberton

29 October 2020

Since covid 19 pandemic outbreak, many people lost their jobs because companies had to close down. As covid 19 levels went by more and more people became vulnerable and the local economy deteriorated to a point that crime incidents went up and many incidents of mugging are reported every day.

Before covid 19 outbreak, Jouberton Township used to experience criminal activities ranging from housebreaking, theft, mugging at night, ATM fraudsters just to mention a few. Those activities were carried out by a notorious gang called ‘Bokoharam’. They are tsotsi’s in our local community and they are known for their ruthless behaviour and fast lives.

As the economy is deteriorating their criminal activities are also impacted upon, and as a result, they need to come up with other ways of satisfying their addiction to crime and social lives. Unfortunately, that comes with a price to members of our community. Many cases has been reported of people coming from health care facilities, who are mugged and robbed off their medication. On the 26th of October 2020 on Monday four community health care workers were robbed off chronic medication which was supposed to be delivered to bedridden and the elderly members of our community, and explaining the ordeal, a shaken health care worker who did not want to be named explained that they were chased in broad daylight by these gangsters in full view of members of the community and no one stood by them or cared to help them because this gang is feared more than the police in the community. It is believed that the medication they rob off people is used to develop some kind of drugs to be sold locally.

These cost people lives and the police seems not to have a plan to eradicate criminal activities committed by these gangsters. People are afraid of going to shopping malls because they fear to be robbed at ATM’s and they fear for their lives, now they cannot even go to clinics to fetch their medication. All of these activities happens in broad daylight without any fear of anyone and no one is reporting this.

Brave members of the community took it to the street, and chanted to Jouberton police station, demanding the station commander to do something about this madness. The March comprised of mostly women who felt that enough is enough Bokoharam must fall.