Rooihout and Dale Lace Avenues, Hendrik Potgieter Road, and Rugby, Albert, Appelboom, and Makaree Streets are just some of the roads that were hit hard by crime during the month of July, according to the recent crime statistics revealed by the police.
Properties on these streets in the Weltevreden Park area were prevalent on the crime lists that were read out by the Honeydew Sector 2 manager, Sergeant Nicholas Makhura, at the Honeydew Sector 2 Community Policing Forum meeting on Thursday, 25 July.
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Most of the properties were victims of house burglaries and house robberies, but some endured car hijackings and theft out of motor vehicles as well.
A dissatisfied Sector 2 chairperson, Neville Burnett, attributed the disappointing statistics to the lack of visibility and cooperation among security companies and the police.
“There is no visibility in the area at all. All they do is go in convoy and wait for the criminals to leave the area,” he criticised.
He then made some suggestions to improve communication. “We need security companies to talk to each other, and not to just stand on one corner in order for us to catch these guys,” he explained.
The security companies then suggested a joint operation with the police, which they believe will make a huge difference.
The Honeydew CPF public relations officer, Jon Rosenberg, reiterated the need for domestic workers to be continuously educated about the dos and don’ts that will prevent residential crimes.
“Domestics seem to continually be opening gates and letting strangers onto the properties where they work, and the criminals appear to have inside information about the properties,” he said, alluding to the approach criminals use to outsmart the workers.
“We need to continue with the domestic watch meetings and talk to them about the basics,” he urged, adding that organisers should not be demoralised by the poor attendance at these meetings.
Rosenberg also encouraged victims to open up cases when crimes take place. “Its imperative that every single case is reported. Security companies need to push their clients to open cases,” he said.
Finally, he advised bystanders at crime and accident scenes not to take photos as this is seen as being insensitive.
