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Angry community members calls for station commander to be reshuffled

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The community of Sekgosese village outside Soekmekar in Limpopo are demanding that a local police station commander and a team of investigators be reshuffled.

They are accusing police of failing to arrest suspects in a number of cases of rape, murder and child abuse in the area dating back to 2012.

Last month, a 14-year-old girl, Mpho Nakana was abducted from home while asleep and body was found dumped in the village with over thirty stab wounds.

Residents say they gave the police the names of people they suspect were responsible but no arrest has been made so far.

Community spokesperson Mperekeng Lebepe says yesterday police refused to accept the community’s memorandum of demand.

“We have problems with criminal investigators because they fail to make arrests in murder, rape and child abuse cases. We observed that they are incompetent and we suggest that they reshuffle them …  the station commander and her deputy. In a case of Mpho Nakana who was brutally murdered, no one has been arrested but we have [forwarded] them the names of people accused of being behind the crime … they keep on saying investigations are still continuing,” explains Lebepe.

Meanwhile, police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe says a team of investigators has been appointed to investigate all cases the community is complaining about.

He says they are also investigating reports that the mother of the late Mpho Nakana was allegedly ill-treated when she went to the police to report a case of missing person before her body was found.

She told the SABC that she was told to first bring the photo and ID of the missing girl before the case could be opened.

Colonel Ngoepe explains, “All those cases they are referring to we have already taken them to the province, the deputy provincial police commissioner, Major General Bafana Linda, is on top of the situation. I think they have to give us space up until we finalise our investigation thereafter they will get a feedback. There is a team which is investigating the initial handling of the allegedly missing young child who was subsequently found killed.”

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