Residents blow the whistle on crime
Fifty households in Phagameng hope to ward off criminals with the sharp, piercing sound of a whistle to alert others that trouble’s afoot.
Residents of Mandela Village and Ward 6 in Modimolle held a community meeting to look for solutions to ward off criminal activities in their area. Edward Masingi, also known as Bra Sox, convened the meeting.
“Cable thieves cause lots of problems in our area and households are often left without power for a long time. We cannot cook dinner and children cannot do their homework at night,” he said.
Nyope and marijuana users also cause trouble. When people are at work, their houses are broken into. Residents are also robbed of their cell phones while walking to and from work.
After contacting local members of AfriForum, the civil rights organization’s local neighborhood watch donated 50 whistles.
“Members of our neighbourhood watch offered to react when there is an emergency in ward 6 or to take members of the police there if they do not have vehicles to respond with,” said James van Zyl of the local AfriForum branch.
“We decided to look for sponsors who could help us with solutions. The 50 donated whistles were given each to a household. There are hundreds of households in our neighbourhood and we plan to get more whistles to distribute amongst residents,” he said.
The whistles will warn residents nearby to respond, but hopefully also act as a deterrent as it becomes known that they will be quick to respond to trouble. According to residents, the police often do not come when they are notified of problems or take a long time to respond.
“We plan to educate members of our own neighbourhood watch in the near future on how to react when there is trouble,” said Masingi.
AfriForum’s neighborhood watch plays an active role in the safety of residents in town. According to Van Zyl, the watch’s drone is used at least two to three times a week, in conjunction with HPG, the police and security companies. Requests for its assistance come from as wide as Brits and Mokopane.
Charles Dreyer is the AfriForum neighbourhood watch’s operational manager and he can be contacted on tel. 079 921 9193. Bylies Byleveld is the chairman and can be contacted on tel. 082 659 9163.
Contact Masingi 063 667 2418.
