Rural armed robberies increase

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu

POLICE in Matabeleland South have said armed robberies are on the increase in rural areas, targeting families that receive large sums of money from the diaspora.

The province recorded a 35 percent increase in armed robbery cases from January to April this year compared to the same period last year.

172 armed robbery cases were recorded from January to April this year while 127 cases were recorded during the same period last year.

Acting provincial police officer commanding Matabeleland South, Assistant Commissioner Peter Sibanda recently said they suspect foul play from some cross border transporters that were being tasked to deliver cash.

He said some of them could be working in cahoots with armed robbers.

“As a province we received a 35 percent increase in armed robbery cases. What is concerning is that armed robbery cases were traditionally known to occur in urban areas but they have now become very frequent and very common in rural areas. Our rural folk are losing a lot of valuables including money which they receive through their relatives outside the country,” he said.

“The million-dollar question is ‘how would the criminal be knowing that a certain person would have received a large amount of money?’ As police we always encourage community members to ensure that they don’t keep large sums of money within their homes. We also urge people to be careful about who delivers valuable property or money to them. Our strong suspicion is that the information is leaked to criminals by those who hand over the money to our communities such as omalayitsha.”

Assistant Commissioner Sibanda said community members have to use reputable platforms of sending money to ensure that transactions are traceable.

He also encouraged people to be careful as toy guns were being used to commit some armed robbery cases.

“We have people who buy toy guns under the pretext of entertaining children but in actual fact they use them to commit armed robberies. A lot of armed robberies have been committed using toy guns,” he said.

Matabeleland South Province recorded a 10 percent increase in crime during the period under review. A total of 4 358 cases were recorded from January to April this year in the province’s four policing districts while 3 691 were recorded during the same time last year.

Cases of drug and substance abuse recorded in the province rose by 172 percent from January to April this year when compared to the same period last year.

This year 49 cases were recorded from January to April while 18 cases were recorded over the same period last year. Some of the drug abuse cases have been recorded in schools like Gwanda High, Madlambuzi High and Usher High School.

The province also realised a 13 percent increase in attempted murder cases and a 11 percent increase in assault cases. Rape cases involving juveniles dropped by 16 percent while those involving adults dropped by 20 percent. Physical abuse cases dropped by 15 percent while stock theft dropped by nine percent.

Beitbridge District recorded the highest increase in crimes with 23 percent. 1 381 cases were recorded in the district from January to April this year while 1 123 cases were recorded in the district during the same period last year. -@DubeMatutu