Hout Bay unites to fight crime because ‘police are understaffed’

A SURGE in crime has prompted the formation of an anti-crime collective in Hout Bay.

The Hout Bay Civic Association (HBCA), Hout Bay Residents and Ratepayers’ Association ( HBRRA) and residents met the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) yesterday to discuss ways to combat crime in Hout Bay.

HBCA chairperson Roscoe Jacobs said: “Let us unite in the fight against crime. Let us unite in ensuring the City of Cape Town listens to the desperate pleas of the people and acts now.”

The move comes after foreigners recently went on a manhunt through the streets of Imizamo Yethu informal settlement as they sought the killers of a Congolese national, Nchikala Ngoy.

Ngoy, 27, was stabbed eight times in the back and head after being robbed on his way home from Hout Bay library on July 8.

Ngoy was killed close to “The White House”, a derelict, city-owned building residents said harboured criminals. The area around the building is a crime hot spot.

The HBCA has been asking the city to deal with the building since 2011, by either demolishing it or putting it to good use.

On that day, residents apprehended a man suspected of being involved in another murder.

The man, accused of murdering a Malawian man two weeks ago, was badly beaten up.

On July 14, angry residents set the building alight, burning the roof and leaving the remaining structure scorched.

The city’s mayoral committee has authorised the demoli- tion of the house, but this still needs the approval of the full council.

“As the Hout Bay Civic Association and Sanco, we will be attending the full council meeting to ensure that the motion is tabled and supported by all,” Jacobs said.

“We are aware that the demolition might not put an immediate end to the crime crisis, but we believe it will send a clear message to criminals that lawlessness will not be tolerated in our community.”

Jacobs encouraged Hout Bay residents to join the anticrime collective in a march against crime on August 2 from Salamander Park in Hangberg.

HBRRA chairperson Len Swimmer said: “The real problem in Hout Bay is (that the) police are understaffed.

“Crime has gone crazy, but policing is not for the residents, it’s for police.”

Picture: ARMAND HOUGH NOT SITTING WELL: Residents and community organisations are still up in arms about “The White House” in Hout Bay, where an anti-crime collective has now been formed.