Standoff over KZN boom gates
Your access booms are causing racial tensions and they need to come down.
That’s the order from Msunduzi municipality in KwaZulu-Natal to the residents of Mountain Rise — a hot spot for petty crime.
But residents said they put up boom gates after calls for increased police visibility and action against trucks that use their suburb as a short cut came to naught, leaving them no choice but to take security into their own hands.
Residents, who spoke to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised, said the boom gates do not prevent the movement of people and are not racially motivated.
“They’re allowing people to go through, they’re not stopping anyone from entering. We’re just using it as a deterrent for crime and it acts as a visual barrier,” said one resident.
He said the number of trucks driving through the suburb at night is “unreal”.
“Trucks use this route as a short cut. This is a residential area and those heavy vehicles are not allowed through here, but who is here to stop them when they’re doing that?”
Another resident said it has been left up to the community to deal with petty crime.
“If the police were patrolling this area then we wouldn’t have a problem — we have to pay private security companies to guard us and this boom gate gives us some sort of assurance of safety.”
Msunduzi municipal spokesperson Thobeka Mafumbatha said the bylaws state
that no person is allowed to block or hinder entry to a public place.
“Where communities feel threatened they can go to the police and ask for assistance in establishing community forums.
“We encourage our communities to live peacefully and in harmony together to avoid racial tensions. If communities are found to be contravening bylaws, action will be taken against them.”
But ANC proportional representation councillor Mehmood Oumar, who lives in Mountain Rise, said the boom gates aren’t intended to fuel racial tensions.
“A lot of people are on edge following the recent unrest. The community of Mountain Rise is an elderly community and people have been plagued by petty crime. There must be an amicable solution that can be found to ensure both the residents and municipality come to an agreement.”
Shaheen Suleiman of Magma Security and Investigations said: “There are a lot of businessmen living there and they are worried about kidnappings and robberies. We have been asked to man these gates; we have no issues with it as long as it is approved through the proper channels.”
Mountain Rise community policing forum (CPF) chair Alphonso Jasson said: “The residents are doing a good job in assisting the
police where the police are falling short in terms of manpower. As the CPF we welcome legal movement by residents to control access, but we will not stand for any illegal means whereby certain groups of people are not allowed to pass through or [are] questioned.”
Police spokesperson Capt Nqobile Gwala said an inquiry had been opened about the installation of the boom gates in Mountain Rise. “During the unrest [in July] there were boom gates that were erected by the members of the community in some of the areas.
“The community was asked to remove those boom gates and barricades. In the Mountain Rise area, there are two boom gates that were not removed despite numerous requests. The municipality was also informed regarding the issue. The matter is still under investigation,” said Gwala.
In Cape Town and Gauteng, residents can apply to have boom gates installed. In Durban, the eThekwini municipality has banned them, though there are several suburbs — including Westville and Sherwood — that use automated security access and boom gates manned by guards, paid for by residents.
Westville CPF chair Asad Patel said there have been “very few” boom gates put up in the area, and the municipality had removed most of them.