THE high number of house break-ins in Serala View, a private property in Flora Park, Polokwane, has forced residents to kick out Zimbabwean nationals working in the area.

The residents have accused the illegal immigrants of being responsible for the spate of thefts.

This follows incidents where several houses were broken into and goods stolen. Some of the houses were broken into while owners were asleep.

Matters came to a head when most of the houses were broken into on Tuesday night.

Residents gathered to discuss the problemand it was decided that the Zimbabweans must be kicked out of the area and only be allowed inside the premises during the day when they would be expected to work.

A Sowetan team visited the area and found windows at several houses broken. Some had patty scraped off and the panes removed to gain easy entry.

Residents said they informed the police each time a house was broken into but nothing was done.

Maite Matima, a resident whose house was burgled on Monday night, said she was awoken by the noise of a windowpane breaking. When she went to investigate she found three men who were known to be Zimbabweans trying to steal her hi-fi system.

"The men fled as soon as they realised we saw them," said Matima.

She said on investigation they discovered that the men had loaded groceries from her refrigerator into a cooler box.

"These people are destroying our properties and we cannot continue living with them. They must just go and leave us in peace," she said.

The residents accused the police of not doing anything to assist them.

"And we do not want to do anything to harm them as that could simply be viewed as xenophobic attacks," the residents said.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Mohale Ramatseba said yesterday that they were on top of the situation and they were dealing with the issue of thefts in the area.