Provincial Police Commissioner, Moeketsi Sempe, says they have also managed to apprehend 233 members of different gangs in 2018/19, a feat they are proud of. In recent years, various townships in the province have been ravaged by gang-related crime, with the situation coming to a head in 2015 when the brazen “Maroma” gang stormed several Bloemfontein schools with weapons, reportedly injuring learners. The Free State Education Department decided amidst the 2015 chaos to shut schools down temporarily to keep learners safe.

Since the gangs rose to national prominence, police have repeatedly committed to hunting gang members down for terrorising communities. There have been some notable successes, most recently, the Bloemfontein High Court handing down hefty sentences to twelve members of the Maroma gang in mid-September. Nine accused were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, three years for the contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA Act) and another three years for defeating the ends of justice. The other three accused were sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for murder plus three years for the contravention of the POCA Act and another three years for defeating the ends of justice. The murder in question occurred in August 2017. The convicts accosted 25-year-old Mpho Phuroe in Sejake Square in Bloemfontein, stabbing him and burning his body thereafter.

The Free State police have managed to reduce eight of the seventeen community-related crimes in the province, including murder, common robbery, arson, malicious damage to property, burglary at residential premises and theft of motor vehicles. Sempe says this is a sign that their efforts are indeed continuing to yield results.

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