In the early hours of Sunday, 5 April, a family from West Village woke up to find an intruder in their house.
At about 4am, while Johan Holtzhausen was asleep on his couch, he was woken up by a noise and then saw someone in his house. When the intruder saw that Johan was awake, he attacked him. Neither of the two men was willing to back down as they moved from one room to another. When the opportunity came, the robber jumped out of a window and fled.
Read more here:
https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/414016/krugersdorps-cpfs-will-still-patrol-during-lockdown/
Photos: Supplied.
The family realised that while they were sleeping, the robber and two accomplices made a small hole in the window of Johan and his wife’s bedroom, broke down the burglar bar and entered the house. They stole the family’s belongings while they were asleep.
“I have to commend the Krugersdorp Police; they were at our house within five minutes and they took extremely good care of us,” Johan added.
Among the items the robbers took were a handbag, a wallet, an invertor battery, a TV, a DVD player, and food from the fridge.
Residents believe that owing to their neighbourhood watch having been grounded, crime in the area has increased. Johan, like many others in the community, believe if the neighbourhood watch members were out on patrol, they could have assisted and maybe caught the robbers.
Gary Badenhorst, who has been the chairperson of the West Village Neighbourhood Watch for the past five years, said there has been a definite spike in criminal activity in the area since he and other members of the neighbourhood watch were grounded.
For the purposes of the lockdown, neighbourhood watches and local Community Policing Forum (CPF) patrollers had not been classified as essential services. This then changed when it was said they were allowed to assist police, but only when called upon by the relevant station commander.
Gary suggested that since the neighbourhood watch is not allowed to patrol the streets, community members should safeguard their own homes and patrol their properties from midnight to 3am, and between 5am and 7am.
“It is essential that the community stand together and get to know their neighbours,” he urged.
He believes that police should be more involved and more visible, and said police should have anticipated a rise in crime after the neighbourhood watches and CPFs were grounded.
“The community here is just about at the point of taking matters into their own hands, and I don’t blame them. They can’t be held accountable if they do, because there is absolutely no crime control in the area. It’s a free for all for the criminal element. No one is here to maintain order.”
The News spoke to the Krugersdorp Police station commander, Brigadier Mashao who said according to their statistics, crime in the area has decreased. He also said the police, while doing operations relating to the coronavirus, have focused their efforts on patrolling the areas where illegal mining activity is frequent, like West Village.
“The community has always been and remains our eyes and ears, and we urge them to inform us of any incidents,” said Mashao.
Mashao confirmed that for now community patrollers are still grounded and said that it has been gazetted by government.
