A spate of burglaries in Hwange urban in the coal mining town has jolted locals to form neighbourhood watch committees.
Councillor Peterson Chatandabala Ncube blamed jobless outsiders seeking jobs in mining companies for the robberies.
"There's also an issue of rampant arbitrary dismissals of employees by some coal-mining companies,” Ncube said.
“People are being fired en-masse, without notice. There is no pension, no gratuity, or termination packages.
“They have virtually no money to see them through the next day or money to travel back home, thus they resort to criminal activities.”
Hwange has a host of coal mining companies.
Councillor Mthulisi Bvute said residents were having sleepless nights because of an increase in housebreaking cases. Bvute said they saw the formation of neighbourhood watch committees as key to fighting crime in Hwange.
“If we engage services of a neighbourhood watch committees, theft cases will significantly drop,” he said.
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