Residents urged to assist in curbing crime

THE eyes and ears and quick action of vigilant residents could assist in thwarting crime by alerting neighbourhood watch members and other safety structures in communities affected by crime.

Ward 60 councillor, Mark Kleinschmidt, said property crime and sporadic burglaries during load shedding when street lights were off, have been just some of the recent crime incidents affecting the area.

Ward 60 comprises Rondebosch East, Sybrand Park, Athlone, Lansdowne and Kenwyn.

“The neighbourhood watch is doing excellent work maintaining vigilance,” he said.

Kleinschmidt said vandalism and blatant theft of electrical infrastructure resulted in the disruption of services.

This, however, was marginally alleviated by the presence of neighbourhood watches.

“The community remains the eyes and ears. Report to SAPS Lansdowne 021 700 9000 or the City’s Emergency Services 021 480 7700,” Kleinschmidt said.

Nerissa Neighbourhood Watch interim vice-chairperson, Celeste Maclons, said recent crime incidents and trends included armed robberies, break-ins, hijackings, attempted hijackings, cable theft, water meter theft, theft out of a vehicle and most recently, gang-related shootings.

“Cable theft has hit Lansdowne and surrounding areas in the past few months.”

Maclons said residents could form street watches, join their neighbourhood watch members for patrols, support neighbourhood watches and the police by being vigilant of their surroundings and reporting suspicious activity immediately.

“We fully support the emergency alerts phone number 021 480 7700, NHW members can assist but we are not the police.

Amity Way Street Watch Neighbourhood Watch chairperson, Lindsay Neil Thomas, said there have been a number of incidents of cable theft in the area adjacent to the York Road mosque, causing unnecessary power outages and grief for residents.

“Community vigilance can’t be emphasised enough. Far too many people are unconscious in the way that they move around,” she said.

“It is vital for crime to be reported to the local SAPS. This will encourage their seniors to supply more resources to the SAPS station.”