UMBILO SAPS has increased patrols in the area around the intersection of King Dinuzulu (Berea) and Cleaver Roads, following continued attacks on motorists waiting at the traffic lights at the intersection.
In December last year, Berea Mail highlighted the crime hotspot after a business owner in the area reported that opportunistic crime at the intersection was out of hand. He described how gangs preyed on and robbed pedestrians, motorists and DUT studentswalking through the notorious hotspot on a daily basis. He described how one motorist had been stabbed and said he had witnessed acts of crime every day, warning that it would not be long before someone was killed.
The man, who asked not to be named, contacted Berea Mail again this month and reported that he had witnessed a young, pregnant woman stabbed in her car at the intersection, and had to rush her to hospital.
“The police know about this problem, something needs to be done urgently. I have lived in the area all my life and it’s sickening what is happening here. The incident with the young woman has rocked me, I did not grow up having to deal with seeing this, with seeing people hurt and bleeding,” he said.
READ RELATED: Gangs of thieves turn Berea intersection into crime hotspot
According to the man, the attacks and theft usually occur after 4pm when there is a lot of traffic at the intersection. He said there are around three to four different gangs that operate in the area, and escape escape through a hole in a wall in Cleaver Road, and disappear into abandoned garages behind it. The hole was the result of an accident which had occurred at the intersection and had not been repaired. Some suspects also fled down towards Warwick Junction and disappeared in the crowds.
Umbilo CPF chair, Heather Rorick, said she had notified the visible policing commander and station commander at Umbilo SAPS of the issue, and called for action to be taken to address the derelict garages behind the wall.
“As fast as the wall is rebuilt, it is broken down again, as it is a quick escape. The people living in the garages need to be moved away and the garages sealed. Years ago we did a blitz there with the Metro Police and found bags and bank cards which had been discarded in the garages. People are sitting ducks at those robots,” she said.
Capt Pumzile Makaula from Umbilo SAPS said the police were aware of the crime hotspot. “We have increased our patrols in the area and are working on ideas to solve the problem,” she said.
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