Gauteng police are confident the rule of law will be restored in Mamelodi following incessant attacks on the community by a vigilante gang calling itself Boko Haram. The group has allegedly been demanding payments from foreign tuck shop owners, hijacking buildings, and evicting service providers in the township.
Four of its members were arrested last month and the so-called Inkandla hostels in Mamelodi are now subject to a police probe. It is alleged they were hijacked and illegally rented out Boko Haram, costing the municipality millions of rand.
“We are talking about a loss of R12 million per annum in terms of revenue that we’re supposed to be collecting as a city, that is why now we decided to hand the matter over to SAPS so that they can do investigations. I do know that the President and the Minister of Police have declared that now we have start looking into invasions as a serious crime and these gangs are running amok all over the show but it is something that we as a city are taking very seriously,” says City of Tshwane’s MMC for Human Settlement, Mpho Mehlape-Zimu.
The group has been on a rampage extorting money from foreign tuck-shop owners, construction projects, and other businesses.
The four arrested people, who are understood to be part of the gang, have been charged with fraud, money laundering, trespassing as well as contravention of the Eviction Act.
“We’re hoping that the matter will be expedited but we see that there is work that is being done and they are starting to bring people to book but obviously we are dealing with a very sophisticated syndicate,” says Mehlape-Zimu.
But the gang is reportedly still on the prowl despite those arrests and residents dare not speak for fear of reprisals.
“They mustn’t be scared, we have a programme in place especially a witness protection programme, where if there are witnesses who feel that their lives are threatened we can arrange with NPA to take those people to that programme,” says Gauteng Police Commissioner-General, Elias Mawela.
Mawela says more arrests will follow. “We are confident that we’re still going to arrest more. We are working closely with the NPA. It’s guiding our investigations and then we do what the prosecutors say we must do. As soon as we’re ready, we’re still going to arrest a lot of people in Mamelodi.”
The four suspects are out on bail and will appear again in court next month.
