Trapped in a spiral of crime and rape

Everest, Etwatwa residents to take law into their hands

WITH a look of horror etched on her face, Sindiswa Pikini recounted the morning two weeks ago, when members of her community rescued her sister from a man who attacked her while she was walking to the main road to catch a taxi to work.

“My sister cried and screamed so loud,” said Pikini from her home in Everest in Ekurhuleni.

“We ran out of the house as soon as we heard her screams. Luckily, the community arrived before anything could happen.”

The man allegedly instructed Pikini’s sister to follow him but when she refused he started beating her, dragging her into the bushes.

“I don’t want to imagine what could have happened to her,” she says.

About 25km away from Everest experts and politicians gathered at Emperors Palace this week to discuss solutions to eradicate the scourge of crime in Gauteng during an annual safety summit.

The meeting focused on rape, holistic implications for safety, and the success and failures of policing in South Africa.

However, Everest residents told how they lost confidence in politicians.

The settlement, which is surrounded by abandoned mines, is a haven for criminals and dead bodies are frequently discovered in nearby bushes.

“The police themselves fear coming here. And if they do come, they will never drive inside. Instead, they will park their cars on the main road and ask whoever reported the crime to meet them at the roadside so they can take a statement.

“I know a woman who was killed for a cellphone.

“We are poor, but it does not mean we don’t deserve protection. We are also citizens of this country,” she says.

At night Everest is plunged into darkness.

The Apollo lights erected by the municipality several years ago have been destroyed, creating ideal conditions for crime to thrive.

However, in another section of Everest a group of women have decided to fight back using vigilantism. “We have organised ourselves,” says Palesa Sekgobela, who has been living in the area for almost a decade.

“If we identify a rapist or a robber we burn them, right away.

“We will only call the useless police after we are finished,” she said.

Sekgobela said the community recently burnt several people alleged to have raped young girls.

“I’m not going to sit back and allow my child to be raped.

“I am not going to sit and allow my family to be killed by drug addicts,” she said.

She accused the police of treating the poor with contempt.

“Our lives are cheap. If the police are called to respond to suburbs they go there running.

“It’s useless to keep voting for a government that treats us like rubbish,” she said.

Agnes van Ek, also a resident of Everest, said she kept weapons in the house for protection.

“I don’t have a man, so I have to protect my children.

“The police have decided that we don’t deserve to be protected, so we will take the law into our own hands,” she said.

About 18km away in Etwatwa, residents said there was an increase in incidences of rape.

Mamosa Sibiya, 65, said the community was contemplating starting a watch group to escort children to and from schools, but it was hard to organise residents as local councillors were not active.

“A lot of children travel a long distance to school. We must protect them, especially girls, because they are vulnerable.

“It is concerning that it is grown men who are perpetuating rape against young girls,” Sibiya said.

Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-malobane said about 600 women and children were killed in Gauteng during the 2017/18 financial year.

“When people have been arrested and there is proof that people have been involved in criminal activities, we hope we will be able to convict all of them,”nkosi-malobane said.

She remained concerned about the low conviction rate in Joburg.

“It’s still at 54%, but I’m happy with the East Rand and West Rand, they are both at over 75%. We are hoping for a 100% conviction rate,” she said.