Don’t pay window washers, residents of Edenvale plead

YET ANOTHER group of frustrated residents have taken to the streets to protest against window washers.

On Saturday morning, Greenstone residents demonstrated against the washers who stand at the intersection of Van Riebeeck Avenue and Stoneridge Drive and along Modderfontein Road, close to Greenstone Mall.

Edenvale Community Police Forum chairperson Linda McKenzie said they had received numerous complaints from motorists.

“We have involved the Joburg and Ekurhuleni metro police departments and the SAPS, and they do, from time to time, raid. But the washers disappear and return to their spots as soon as the cops have left. We caught some harassing motorists at 11.30 on Friday night,” she said.

“These are busy intersections with people who don’t live in the area passing through, so we’re handing out pamphlets giving them guidelines on what to do when approached. They must be told not to hand the washers money, as this encourages them to stay.”

Ten days ago, Edenvale, Bruma and Kensington residents also took to the streets at a Bruma intersection, chasing the washers away.

Bruma Sector Community Policing Forum head Rob Crawford said the problem lay not with the police, but with the National Prosecuting Authority, which kicked these cases out of court, regarding them as minor offences. – Anna Cox