A SMALL community north of Durban has managed to keep crime at bay, despite authorities’ recent warnings that crime had spiked in the area. The Mvoti Neighbourhood Watch, which patrols sections of the Red Hill and Durban North community, has in the last three months responded to only three crime-related incidents.
According to the watch’s chairman, Grant Cockburn, one suspect was arrested after he was caught fence hopping, while the other two incidents involved a house break-in and cable thefts.
The watch’s crime statistics of two years ago painted a different picture, with 15 reported incidents, including five house break-ins, cable thefts and property intrusions. Cockburn attributed the watch’s success to dedication and teamwork.
“We are just a group of ordinary people who want to see crime decreased. We have started taking back our community and our streets by being proactive. If we see a suspicious vehicle or individual we report it, we have also limited easy access and escape routes by maintaining parameter fencing, and we make sure to even report trivial things, such as broken street lights,” he said.
Sbu Shandu, one of the ten permanent night patrollers who guard the watch’s 13 streets, said, however, that this was no job for ‘heroes’.
“We don’t take on the criminals. We are simply the eyes and ears. We work with the local police as well as Marshall Security and report any incidents to them. It is all about the community coming together to look after it,” he said.
Shandu signed up as a patroller after his house had been subjected to three break-ins. “I felt frustrated about what has happened and I wanted to do something to make a difference. Then I heard about the watch a year and a half ago and just took to it like wildfire,” he said
