RESIDENTS in Berea are not longer sitting passively by and watching crime take place in their neighbourhood. According to local resident, Steve Mandy, there has been a subtle shift in attitude with more people ready to jump in an actively fight crime.
According to Mandy, on two occasions in the last month, he and other residents had gone to the aid of people who were victims of crime and had chased down the perpetrators.
Mandy said he was working at La Bella in Stephen Dlamini Road on 24 February when he heard screams.
“The screaming wasn’t coming from the park. I realised it was coming from a woman in a car outside an old age home in the road. I ran up and saw the woman turned sideways in the car, kicking at a man who was in the open doorway, with a knife,” he said.
Mandy said the woman and another woman who had gone to visit their mothers at the old age home, were fighting off the man.
“The other woman was cut on her arm, and myself and other people around went to her aid. The man bolted and cars stopped, with people jumping out to follow him. It was a real team effort. At the intersection at Sydenham Road, an old African man chased the suspect, he hit him and the suspect lost his footing and dropped the knife. A reservist arrived on the scene and we handed the man over,” he said.
On 29 February, Mandy was on his way to Avondale Spar on his Scooter when he noticed something was wrong.
“People were stopped looking at something, and I found out a man had just robbed someone. As I was on my Scooter, I chased the guy down the road a long way. I saw a car stop abruptly and the driver helped me chase the man. We wrestled him to the ground eventually and someone arrived on scene with handcuffs. The man was so strong we couldn’t get them on his wrists, but we got them around his ankles to apprehend him,” he said.
Mandy said people were so angry, and were now taking matters into their own hands.
“Across the board, no matter what race, the anger is so strong. It’s not in my portfolio, I’m not a tough guy or a ‘breeker’ but I feel a strong sense of duty. I find 90 per cent of people who help catch criminals are people who are responding because they have been victims of crime or know people who have been. It is nice though, to see the different races working together,” he said.
