Call for vigilance in city suburbs
WARD councillors representing some Durban suburbs have urged residents to be security conscious in their homes.
They have also called resources to fight crime.
DA ward councillors Christopher Pappas of Berea, Martin Meyer of Morningside, and Mmabatho Tembe of Glenwood issued a combined alert last week.
The councillors said they requested metro police and the SAPS to provide extra policing in those areas following a percieved surge in hijackings, robberies and home invasions.
“Criminals are getting more brazen and violent and we are urging residents and businesses to please take the threat seriously,” they said.
Pappas said increased police visibility would make a difference, since the areas were developed and attracted more visitors.
“These areas attract scores of people other than local residents.
“Bars and restaurants have doubled compared to the past 10 years, but we still rely on the same police stations with few resources.”
Pappas said they wanted more visible foot patrols around crime hots pots and further protection in vulnerable areas such as school pick-up points and shopping centres.
Metro police spokesperson Parboo Sewpersad said although he would not confirm whether it had for more the capacity to fight crime in the areas in question, there were measures to mitigate the situation.
“We have task teams which involve us, the SAPS and forums.
“We also encourage businesses and residents to be extra careful and work with private security to fight crime.
“There are internal committees within the municipality where such issues will be addressed.
“We will have to get correct information from SAPS if there is an increase and we will work closely with them if there is a need to deploy more resources,” he said.
Recently, the police and private security guards were involved in a bloody shootout with four men who were allegedly on the way to commit a hijacking.
The incident on the M7 near Queensburgh left two of the suspects dead and one wounded while the fourth suspect escaped.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-colonel Thulani Zwane said the suspects were believed to be linked to other cases of house robberies and hijackings in Durban and surrounding areas, including Glenwood.
In another separate instance, private security armed response officers attended three crime scenes on a single day in Glenmore.
There were also two armed robberies at a Berea old age home within the space of four days.