Muggings in Golden Harvest Park continue
GOLDEN HARVEST – Another resident relieved of his possessions while using the park.
Another resident was recently mugged in Golden Harvest Park.
Resident Philip Nel went for a run in the park on 14 May, when he said a man approached him from behind.
“He instructed me to get on the ground and asked for a cellphone,” Nel recalled.
“I didn’t have one with me which I repeatedly said, as he was asking more than once.”
The mugger took Nel’s GPS watch and running shoes.
“[Afterwards] he instructed me to go the same way I came. Luckily, he didn’t attack me or hurt me. It could have been worse.”
Honeydew police’s Warrant Officer Gabriel Nonyane explained that the Honeydew police frequently patrol the park and are fighting an ongoing battle against drug dealing in the park.
For Nel the police’s presence in the park was not enough to stop him from deciding never to go back.
“This park is not safe at all anymore, and it was my last time going there, which is unfortunate as I live close by, and it is a beautiful park to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city,” he said.
Secretary of Friends of Golden Harvest Park Sandy Frost asked residents to report muggings in the park to the police.
“One of the biggest problems [in the park] is that people do not report muggings to the police,” she said.
“[Friends of Golden Harvest Park] constantly tell[s] people that the police cannot do anything if they do not report.”
Nel claimed that he did report his mugging to the police.
Frost also implored residents to join the Friends of Golden Harvest Park to give the group more influence when negotiating with authorities to find ways to resolve crime in the park.
