The days of walking long distances to get to a police station are over for residents of several villages in the North West.

In Mareetsane village, where a cop shop has just been opened, cases of rape and statutory rape were worrying for police minister Bheki Cele.

He said cases of young girls engaging in sex and the abuse of women and children were top of his concerns.

The new station will serve five neighbouring villages that had been struggling to report crime for years.

"I am told that there is statutory rape and rape cannot be tolerated. It must come to an end," Cele said.

He warned parents that even if they thought it was okay to let their children sleep with whoever they wanted to, the law does not approve it.

"Children must be protected. There is no nation that can pride itself if it cannot protect the children," Cele said.

Residents of Mareetsane and other villages had to travel between 15km to 48km to get to a police station.

Cele said he understood that the area was vast but said he will provide satellite police stations.

"There is a place where residents travel for 48km to get to the police station. We need to build small stations rather than making the community spend a lot of money to report crime."

He warned the officers who will be stationed at Mareetsane to take cases of women and children abuse seriously.

"When a woman comes to the station to report crime, do not send her away. Young women are dying at the hands of their boyfriends," he said.

Mareetsane, about 50km south of Mahikeng, is one of the villages under the Ratlou local municipality.

In 2017, it was reported that there were more than 2,000 underage girls who were pregnant or young moms.

Resident Elizabeth Mafethe said she was happy that residents will no longer have to travel a long distance to get to a police station.

"We are living in fear. There are housebreakings here and we cannot report them because we are struggling to get to the police station," she said.

She said they used to travel to Mooifontein police station, about 25km away.

Premier Job Mokgoro told Cele North West was at war with itself. "Day in and day out there are sporadic outbursts of violent protests, criminality thrives. This has become the order of the day," he lamented.

Cele warned the community that if they burn the new station he will never build another one.