As every person will at some point in their lives be directly affected by crime, Alex residents were advised to consider the implications of crime against themselves due to their indifference to it.
This was said by Lieutenant Colonel Benny Moodley of Alexandra Police Station at A Social Crime Prevention Campaign attended by stakeholders and local residents.
Moodley said the trend was that one in 10 people in the township becomes a victim of crime daily, and the number is likely to increase because community members fail to report crimes to the police.
“Women, girls and children are raped, molested through domestic abuse and violence, and guns and other deadly weapons are used to rob homes and kill residents in their homes. Children possess guns but parents and neighbours do not report them. Firearms are used in house robberies and hijackings forcing residents to construct high walls and install alarms in [their] homes which are [then] breached. People are then robbed of their possessions and some are killed if they try to resist, and families of the crime perpetrator don’t report [them] as they benefit from the proceeds of the crime.”
Moodley said tavern operators also sold alcohol to minors, seemingly unconcerned about the implications of underage drinking.
“Their obsession with making profits blurs their social, community and parental responsibility as they, too, are parents in the community,” he said.
Moodley said patrons from taverns urinated on the street, in residents’ yards and on vehicles in full public view and in front of children. In addition, according to Moodley, many tavern operators violated operating laws.
He urged residents to develop a neighbourly spirit to improve security within the community and to collaborate with the police. Tavern operators and business owners, he said, should take to heart their social responsibility towards the community and collaborate with police.
“We will not succeed in securing the community and in dealing with corruption without your collaboration through reporting information on crime. Businesses won’t thrive, investment won’t be attracted to the area and there won’t be settled communities without collaboration with the police service,” he said.
Moodley urged all business owners to operate more ethically and to comply with laws. He also encouraged them to infuse their business ethics with those held by police officers.
He said 70 percent of all crimes in Sandton, Bramley and Midrand were committed by criminals from Alexandra and this tarnished the reputation of the township, as well as the community members who live in the area.
