FAIRLAND – Fairland Community Policing Forum (CPF) recently engaged with residents on a matter that needs some attention. Residents claimed that displaced people living in the area’s parks and open spaces were a safety concern and that something had to be done to remove them.
Complaints were directed towards the CPF, police, Metro police and the City for not being able to resolve this issue. Some felt that this was a security issue as residents were reluctant to walk near these parks and have their children play in them.
Addressing these concerns was the CPF’s deputy chairperson Robert Janbroers. He reminded residents that the people living in these parks were people working in the area. He said, “They are there because we employ them. We employ them as gardeners, painters and for other jobs.” Janbroers added that this was the exact same reason why there was a taxi rank at Smits Street Park. He said the taxis were ensuring people such as domestic workers had transport to come and go from work with most of them living in areas such as Diepsloot and Zandspruit.
Janbroers said these people stayed in the area due to the high cost of transport and saved money to use for other expenses at home. He added that they have patrolled the parks often in the past and continue to do so. He said the information he shared with the community was attained from the displaced people during their conversations with them.
Janbroers concluded that this was an issue that needed to be explored further and there should be more engagement with the community. He urged residents to conduct a police clearance when they hired people to work.
