Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Montague Gardens moves to tackle crime
MONTAGUE Gardens businesses, along with the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are considering forming a special improvement district in response to increased crime in the area.
After Cape Cheese owner Rob Bader was gunned down on July 16, the chamber called a meeting of businesses in the area to discuss how they could protect themselves.
Cape Cheese employees said five armed men entered the premises and demanded that Bader open the safe. They shot him dead, wounded his daughter, then fled with cash.
The chamber said car hijackings and burglaries were on the rise in the area. Police confirmed there had been a rise in attacks on businesses in the past three months.
Business owners were hesitant to speak out this week. But Logica Warehouse operations manager Jasmine Carstens said their premises were hit in broad daylight the Sunday after Bader was attacked.
“The man jumped over the fence at 1.27pm on Sunday – we caught everything on footage.
“He went to a Bantam bakkie, broke the window, opened the bonnet, and took the battery out and ripped the tape out. He went under the bakkie, took the spare wheel out – the jack, everything that was there. Very relaxed, he threw everything over the fence and walked away.”
She claimed the area was targeted constantly. She believed this was because it was an industrial area.
“It has just escalated. But what can we do? We are a small business and this hits us hard in our pockets.”
Chamber chief operating officer Bronwen Kausch said businesses were working with the police.
A forum of 10 businesses in the area would discuss the founding of the City Improve- ment District, which would operate in the same manner as the Central City Improvement District.
“The forum will also look at the example of the Killarney Gardens association, due to their success in crime prevention.” She said the response from businesses had been good.