Increase in crime – Clr Penning
Not even a month later, someone tried to steal his other bakkie. Clr Penning said he parked the vehicle and put the gear lock on, activated the alarm and other security measures.
Clr Victor Penning, a Kensington resident, is concerned about unanswered sector phones and an increase in crime during the day.
Clr Penning, who lives in the Jeppe SAPS precinct, said one of his bakkies was stolen and a criminal tried to steal another in the suburb recently.
“My newer bakkie was in for repairs. I was informed my vehicle was fixed and that I could pick it up. I was on the phone, talking to my insurance company, when I heard a vehicle. I could not see anything. When I went outside, I found that my old vehicle had been stolen. This was during the day. It had a gear lock, steering lock and alarm. Yet it took seconds for criminals to steal it,” said Clr Penning.
Not even a month later, someone tried to steal his other bakkie. Clr Penning said he parked the vehicle and put the gear lock on, activated the alarm and other security measures.
“I kept checking up on my vehicle. Eventually, I disturbed a man who was breaking into my vehicle. He had a screwdriver in his hand. I asked him what he was doing. By the time I went outside to the vehicle, the man, who was well dressed, had fled. One of the doors and the ignition were damaged,” said Clr Penning.
He said he called the sector vehicle number and no one answered the call. Instead, he heard a message stating that he should call the other sector number. He phoned the other number and received the same response.
He said he called 10111 and police officers arrived at his house.
“I asked them to call the fingerprinting people because there was a visible hand print on my vehicle. They said no because the hand print was ‘smudged’. How can the station have two sector vehicle numbers but none being manned? The police keep telling us to call and report crimes to the officers who have these cellular phones but no one answers the phones,” said Clr Penning.
He said crime during the day seems to be increasing. “I do not think crime has decreased at all. I hear of a lot of incidents of vehicle thefts for example. We see sector vehicles in the area but sector policing is useless. There are crimes taking place and the criminals can be arrested while in the act. Instead, we have to waste time trying to get police officers out here and when they do come, it is too late. Perpetrators are gone by then. We also see suspicious people in the area while police officers are driving past. Yet these people are not stopped and searched. I am not impressed with sector police officers for the area,” said Clr Penning.
Warrant Officer Richard Munyai, the Jeppe SAPS communications officer said, “The increases we are experiencing at the moment are of theft out of motor vehicles and not car thefts. It is attributed to drivers who leave valuable items on the seats inside their cars. We have increased our patrols in terms of visible policing and issued press statements and pamphlets,” he said.
He added that there are two sector cellular phones that were reported missing but have since been replaced.
“The visible policing commander was not informed about the number not working in time, but when he found out he reported the matter to the provincial office. The police officers try by all means to answer the calls but sometimes the phones are put on the chargers in the client service centre. They do leave their private numbers as an alternate number but they experience problems when people make hoax calls or swear at them. The members were made aware of concerns of them not answering the sector cellular phones and were told to answer them,” said W/O Munyai.
He said people should call their sector managers, 10111 or the Jeppe SAPS on 011 624-6060/6000.
The Kensington area is in Sector 1 and the manager is Sergeant Patrick Tefu. He can be contacted on 074 869 5531or 079 064 7819.
He said stopping and searching people is their first priority. “That is why we have successes in finding unlicensed firearms. Any person who looks suspicious is searched. We search people randomly. We search and confiscate trolleys. We have those trolleys in the storeroom. We either take them back to where they belong, to supermarkets or destroy them. We do arrested people found with stolen or suspicious stolen goods and charge them,” said W/O Munyai.
