Rural Policing of Burglary at Residential Premises in Ga-Molepo Village, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Beauty Mogaladi Malatjie,1 Witness Maluleke2, Khomotjo Phalane3 & Tinyiku David Ngoveni4

Abstract
There has been a massive decline in the ability of prominent community stakeholders to police and solve burglary at residential premises at selected rural areas. The objective of this study was to explore rural policing of burglary at residential premises within the Ga-Molepo village, Limpopo Province, South Africa. This was supported by the application of the Broken Window Theory (BWT). The inductive Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was followed for data analysis. About Thirty-Two [32] participants were purposively selected from Mankweng-selected rural areas. From a qualitative standpoint and adoption of exploratory research design, data was gathered through semi-structured In-Depth Interviews (IDIs). The inductive Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was adopted for analysis. This study established that more training is
required, and forensic investigators are urgently needed to support the local South
African Police Service (SAPS), as they seem to be incapable of preventing this crime,
but only respond after commission of this crime (Practicing reactive rural policing) and
they even fail to deal with backlog of reported cases. For recommendations, the local
SAPS members in a rural setting should prioritise this crime, irrespective of its nature,
while using the ‘Night Guards’ to oppose threats and restore peace and order.

Keywords: Burglary at residential premises, Ga-Molepo village, Limpopo Province, Rural policing, South Africa