SEEING criminals turning their community into a ‘playground’ pushed New Germany resident, Marks Mthonti, to call a community meeting in Berkshire Downs. At the meeting, attended by few people in March, a decision was made to start a Berkshire Downs Neighbourhood Watch.
“When we started we were 15 members but we have grown and there are now 72 members.”
Mthonti, who is the commander of the neighbourhood watch and also the director of the provincial security services, said it annoyed him when he checked his video footage and saw criminals jumping people’s fences while they were sleeping.
“When my neighbour’s house was broken into by very ruthless criminals who tortured them, I told myself that we can not sit and watch thieves prey on us,” he explained.
The neighbourhood watch works closely with police, CPFs and security companies.
“The whole community is hands-on as we have a WhatApp group which helps a lot when most of us are at work. The elderly people and people who are at home during the day can use Whatsapp to report any suspicious activities.”
Visibility deters criminals
Mthonti said their neighbourhood watch does not wait for criminals to strike but they always have patrollers each night.
“We take turns as we have nine groups of patrollers. We do not give criminals a chance to strike. Before we started this neighbourhood watch, between five to six houses were broken into every night and maybe two during the day but those numbers have decreased drastically,” said Mthonti.
New Germany has been in the spotlight lately with many robberies and hijacking cases reported in the past few months.
Also read: ‘The success of a neighbourhood watch is teamwork’ – Escombe Neighbourhood Watch
“We have proven that our system works which is the reason we are having a massive recruitment drive around New Germany streets on Saturday, 5 August and are extending an invitation to New Germany residents, security companies and neighbourhood watches.
“As New Germany residents we need to stand together and assist each other where we can to claim back our place and not live in fear of being targeted by criminals,” added Mthonti.
The drive will start outside 88 Berkshire Drive at 12pm. Interested people can contact Mthonti on 074 316 1087.
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