GALLERY and VIDEO: Crime on the Koppies – out of control
MELVILLE – Melville Koppies Nature Reserve sees a growing criminal element, that is affecting neighbouring areas.
Crime has risen drastically in and around the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve.
In the month of September three incidents were reported. An elderly man and his wife were robbed in their home in Sophiatown, close to the reserve on 30 September. The 71-year-old man was stabbed twice and died during the robbery. Three men have since been arrested in connection with his murder.
*Crime Alert*
House robbery/Murder in Anandale street close to Melville koppies.
An elderly couple was attacked… https://t.co/si6u61LApx— Intelligence Bureau (@IntelliBureau) September 30, 2015
James Lorimer, MP for the DA constituency for Linden and Sophiatown, visited the area on 1 October. He said, “The Melville Koppies and surrounding areas crime hotspot has claimed another victim. The Melville Koppies West in particular are a refuge for criminals who are ramping up their operations in adjacent areas. The police need to act.”
Also, a man was shot eight times and died at Westpark Cemetery while mourning at his mother’s grave on 26 September. There was a murder of a man who was stabbed several times in Sophiatown on Sol Street on 14 September.
Sophiatown Neighbourhood Watch chairperson Dauw Steyn added, “The Waterval dump site in Newlands has been cleared out and some of the area by Laerskool Esperanza has been fenced off.” This, he added, encourages the vagrants to move to the other side of the reserve on Johannes Street.
@NewsNMT @SAPoliceService @AshtynMackenzie Sophiatown Neighborhood Watch attended scene. Shocking to live in fear like thiw
— Dauwq Steyn (@dauwq) September 30, 2015
City officials held a walk through of the Waterval garden refuse site, in Newlands, in August. The land was earmarked for development about 13 years ago. Since then, owners of the land have not done much to develop the area. Over 60 vagrants were using it as a home as well as clear criminal activity as many household items were found in their dwellings. Ward 86 councillor Steve Kotzé added, “The fence as promised by the developers has gone up on Albert Street but has not yet been put around the entire property.”
Sophiatown Police spokesperson Warrant Officer TJ de Bruyn commented, “At the moment we are policing the area. We do regular raids in the koppies as well as normal patrols.” Kotzé added that he is worried about the criminal element surrounding the area. “We really need police to step up in the area.”
The volunteer committee employs @CSStactical on all Sunday tours at Melville Koppies as a precaution. Safety in Jozi pic.twitter.com/vLBSk8EpnE
— I Love Melville (@ilovemelville) August 23, 2015
The DA’s Take Back the Koppies campaign has been running a petition that will go to the Provincial and City authorities. Lorimer added, “Police have said while they would like to conduct anti-crime and patrolling operations on the koppies, they do not have the resources to do so.”
WO de Bruyn said, “We are in communications with [Johannesburg] City Parks and Zoo as well as JMPD to visit the area on occasion to look for vagrants and suspicious people.”
