SIGNAL HILL – Taking a united stance against crime, residents of Sector 4, comprising of Signal Hill, Sunnyridge, Schuinshoogte and Pioneer Park, met at Drakensberg Primary School on Wednesday evening, February 15.
Chairperson of Community Policing Forum (CPF), Bheki Zikalala, opened the meeting with a dire warning.
“Crime is happening, and it sees no race.”
Mr Zikalala believed vacant houses contributed to crime, as they offered an escape route to criminals. “Thugs can also break doors down, knowing there are no witnesses from the neighbouring house.”
As most burglaries allegedly took place during the day, Mr Zikalala encouraged residents to be vigilant.
“My home was broken into twice last year. A neighbour of mine saw two young men sitting outside my house before one of the incidents, but didn’t think anything of it until afterwards.
“We need to start communicating with our neighbours and paying attention on people in our neighbourhoods.”
It was said theft of television sets, especially large flat screen sets, was most prevalent, followed by laptops.
Residents were advised to list serial numbers of all appliances, “Also take a photo of your items. By using the serial numbers and the photos, it will make it easier for police to identify your goods if the culprits had sold it to a second-hand dealer.”
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Nkosi was of the opinion that crime could be minimised when residents and police worked together.
“We cannot do it alone, but if the community join hands with the police, the criminals will become scared,” he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Nkosi confirmed burglaries were problematic, especially in Pioneer Park. “I am worried about Pioneer Park, as reports show house burglaries are more prevalent in the suburb. However, they have decreased over the past month.”
A CPF sub-committee with Johan Pieters as chairperson and Craig Pedersen as vice chairperson was formed. It will meet monthly to monitor the situation. The sub-committee will also meet with the CPF once every second month.
“We need to work together and work on a strategy to get more people to attend the meetings. Through working together, we can make a difference. Let’s fight crime together,” Mr Pieters concluded.
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