Suburb at a loss over drunken sailors
Military life is supposed to be about discipline and boot polish, not booze and boogie.
Not so at a Simon’s Town naval barracks, where police and civic officials are powerless to tone down huge weekend parties.
The City of Cape Town said its legal and health departments had been called in to speak to the navy over the conduct of hundreds of cadets at Waterfall barracks, in the formerly quiet suburb of Mount Pleasant.
To date, law enforcement attempts to intervene have proved useless, with barracks management insisting they do not fall under the city’s jurisdiction.
Residents have now also reported the matter to the military ombudsman in Pretoria, submitting a detailed logbook of infringements dating back five years.
Friction between cadets and residents has prompted screaming matches across the fence, or what’s left of it, and even threats of violence.
Matters came to a head late last month when the barracks staged a nine-hour yearend party without a city event permit. Police were powerless to intervene despite numerous complaints.
Waterfall barracks houses more than 450 cadets in separate quarters for men and women. But this number can swell significantly when the partying begins.
“What goes on in the military these days is just frightening,” said Simon’s Town ward councillor Simon Liell-Cock. “It would appear that they [navy command] are powerless to keep their own naval cadets under control.”
One of the aggrieved neighbours is the Happy Valley homeless shelter, managed by the Department of Social Welfare on navy property. Happy Valley manager Patrick Msakayeya said cadets verbally abused his residents through their shared fence.
During a visit by the Sunday Times last week, Happy Valley residents said the cadets’ drunken behaviour was shameful. “They stand at the fence and shout ‘Hobo! Hobo!’ and swear at us. They are often completely drunk,” one said.
Several neighbours this week also detailed a long list of grievances. A group was formed to engage senior naval management — to no avail. The group even met cadets inside the barracks, but the parties continue.
Cadets drink openly in the barracks parking lot, rev engines, trash nearby public spaces and sometimes verbally abuse complainants. In a 2014 letter to cadets one neighbour wrote: “I respect your right to relax after hours but I ask that you respect mine too, as I also work hard and look forward to the weekend.”
Incidents in the residents’ logbook include:
“A group of five or six men returned to the base when it opened at 5am, roared around the car park repeatedly, revving their car engine, burning their tyres, yelling, whooping, shouting, playing loud music, and woke up the entire valley (February 2017)”;
“Monday, public holiday: extremely loud singing and chanting from under the afdak [covered] parking” (September 24); and
“Hectic open-air party started under tent and went on for nine hours nonstop. Impossible to work at home, no escape to any room in the house.” (November 25).
Law unto themselves
One affected couple said they had been physically threatened by cadets partying outside their house.
City of Cape Town law enforcement officer Brian Ing confirmed the jurisdiction stand-off: “It is crazy, actually. SAPS has no jurisdiction and neither have we . . . over 400 people in the barracks smack in the middle of the community.”
The officer in charge of the barracks declined to comment, but navy spokesman Commander KS Khasuli acknowledged that the single-quarters barracks were likely to become rowdy.
“The probabilities of members making noise can’t be disputed . . . To neutralise the noise level at the barracks the Military Police are conducting random rounds to ensure that members do adhere to domestic rules,” Khasuli said.
“Any act of ill-discipline will not be tolerated and decisive action will be taken against the perpetrator.”
Meanwhile, residents await the verdict of the military ombudsman as well as city council noise-level tests.
Remarked one angry resident: “If anybody wants to invade South Africa I would recommend 4pm on a Friday — because the navy is pissed by then.”