BREIDBACH COMMUNITY HAD ENOUGH

COMMUNITY members in Breidbach are up in arms over a recent spate of robberies.

They are requesting police assist in helping the neighbourhood start a patrol watch in a bid to safeguard residents.

In the latest incident to hit the community, a Tshatshu resident was robbed of his personal belongings last weekend.

The victim, who wants to remain anonymous, said he was robbed by three people near the Acorn Valley pedestrian bridge on his way home from visiting friends in Breidbach at about 11pm. “Three suspects appeared from nowhere, surrounded me and demanded all my belongings and, when I refused, they reached for weapons in their pockets. I ran for my life until I fell after I hurt my leg.”

The robbers took his cellphone, jewellery, and cash. He said they left him lying in bushes until the next morning, when he was finally assisted by residents.

Community leader, Isaac Windvogel, is angered by the high incidence of crime, telling residents at the scene to start organising themselves in order to take charge of their community.

Buffalo City Metro (BCM) ward committee member for the area, Tully Winnaar and King CPF member, Desmond Coetzee, were among the crowd of onlookers..

“We are tired of crime in our community, enough is enough and we must start patrolling our streets starting from tonight,” Windvogel said.

Coetzee applauded the Acorn Valley community for initiatives to make the community safer and assured them he would do everything in his power to get necessary assistance and full co-operation from police.

Last Monday, a group of concerned residents held a successful meeting where they decided to start their own neighbourhood watch.

“I commend the residents of Acorn Valley and those at the back of Breidbach for the initiative taken and assure them they will be supported by the police in their attempts to safeguard their areas,” Coetzee said.

“Street committees and neighbourhood watches are effective ways to combat crime,” areas,” he said.