Elderly’s safety now in check
HIGH FIVE FOR ALARMS
THE safety of 50 elderly and vulnerable citizens has been vastly improved, thanks to a new security device to be installed in their homes.
The elderly and victims of crime in Kagiso, Tshepisong and other neighbourhoods on the West Rand received new Memeza home alarm systems and hand devices that they will carry whenever they walk the streets.
The devices easily report any intrusion to the nearest police station or patrol vehicles when pressed.
Thami Molefe, a manager at Memeza, said the device would bring police to respond quicker to vulnerable people. Memeza has partnered with the SA Breweries to donate the devices to residents. The device can configure 15 cellphone numbers and has a remote that arms and disarms it and detects any movement in the house when switched on.
Its flashing unit hangs outside the house to assist police and neighbours quickly identify the house they are responding to.
Regarding the hand device, Molefe said it can be used as a key ring and carried everywhere. To activate it, one pulls a cord and the alarm goes off and has a flashlight.
Kagiso police station commander Brigadier Sipho Ngubane said the devices would assist in the fight against crime particularly in Tshepisong, which he described as a crime hot-spot.
Ngubane said Tshepisong has a number of challenges caused by unemployment and poverty.
“Through these alarms, we expect quicker and better policing and our confidence will be regained. Crime is keeping us on our toes and we have come with different ways to fight it,” he said.
In February alone, five people were killed in one weekend in Tshepisong. We deal with rapes, hijackings and house robberies.
“Most criminals have been arrested, and those who have fled ... we are on their trails. We’ve killed some of them and we are not proud of that. Five were killed recently when they exchanged fire with our members.”
Gauteng community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane said the devices would not replace police officers but would be communication tools to assist in fighting crime.
Nkosi-Malobane has encouraged churches, private companies and municipalities to buy hand devices for their employees when walking or performing their duties in dangerous areas.
“The alarms will ensure that we keep ourselves and others safe. We must all be (whistle-blowers) because crime shouldn’t be crime only when it’s committed against you.” QUEEN Khoza and Sibongile Biyela have praised the devices that will keep criminals away from their homes.
Khoza, 50, a community policing forum member in Tshepisong, said two weeks ago she received death threats from criminals, and that the alarm will now keep her home safe at all times. “My house was burgled last year when I was in hospital. They took everything, including blankets, and if I had the device then they would have been arrested.
“I’m an enemy of criminals in my area because my house is used as a meeting point by patrollers and for those who want help from police,” she said.
Biyela, 67, said the alarm would prevent burglaries. – Ntwaagae Seleka
“Crime is keeping us on our toes