SECURITY has been beefed up at a block of flats in Durban, following incidents of muggings in and around the building at the end of last year.
PR councillor, Nicole Graham and DA MP Haniff Hoosen called a public meeting late last year to discuss the way forward following around 15 muggings outside Willsborough Mansions, with one person even being followed into the block and mugged in the foyer. She said something needed to be done to rectify the problem.
Graham said residents in the block cannot live in peace due to crime and chaos outside their homes despite living on the pristine Golden Mile.
“Petty and violent crime is spiralling out of control. Community members are not satisfied with the responses from law enforcement, despite living opposite a Metro Police station,” she said.
Representatives from business licensing, liquor licensing, Metro Police and the Health Department were present at the meeting, and it was agreed council deployed security guards would be placed outside the block.
Resident, Duane Dry, said he lived in the building for 19 years, and crime got steadily worse over the past few years.
He said parts of the front of the building had to be gated in, as vagrants were sleeping outside the building, urinating and defecating out front, and there were also incidents of prostitution and drug usage and peddling.
“Since the guards have been placed outside the building, petty crime has majorly improved, however they leave at 5pm, and I feel something needs to be done to build on what is in place during the day,” he said.
Graham said another issue which needs to be policed is noise pollution in the area.
“Residents cannot sleep. There are a lot of bars in Gillespie Street which stay open until 7am in the morning. People park in the parking lot outside the building, which is opposite an old age home, and party outside the building,” said Graham, an issue she addressed with the representatives from the various departments at the meeting last year.
“The noise is bad at night. People park and open their boots, drink, blast their music and party all night. We have been woken up at 3am by the noise,” said Dry.
Graham said she would follow up with the departments to find out what can be done to stop the cars from parking in the parking lot at night to help curb this problem.
“We hope to achieve some progress for this community,” she said.
