UPDATE: Residents initiate crime watch group
SHARONLEA – Residents form a crime watch group after a spate of mugging incidents.
Residents from Suikerbossie Street in Sharonlea have taken a stand against crime in their suburbs.
Residents are in the process of initiating various programmes that would make their communities safer.
Various meetings have been called and are ongoing in the hope of seeking a permanent solution that would completely eradicate the scourge.
WhatsApp crime alert group has been created. Residents are liaising with the Ward 101 Councillor Ralf Bittkau in the hope of putting up a fence along the Malibongwe Drive bridge between Suikerbossie Street and President Fouché Drive.
Read previous story: Residents are fed up with mugging incidents
They believe that a boom gate would drastically reduce the rate of crime in the area if installed at the entrance with a full time security guard.
For over the past few years residents have been mugged along the bridge while either going to work in the morning or returning to their homes in the afternoon.
The plight has been persistent as most of these incidents are not reported to the police.
Most victims explained that they were assaulted by robbers – in most instances two men, who then demanded their bags with cell phones, money and belongings.
When perpetrators are done with their victims, they then run into the bushes near the spruit and hide.
In most instances, police had been called however, eventually the victims just gave up as it took police more than an hour to attend to their complaints or sometimes not at all.
During a meeting on 21 February, a neighbourhood watch was established and residents now work together to protect others.
A victim of mugging, Malesedi Mosikili, explained that she has organised with taxi drivers who agreed to assist residents with transport from Randburg CBD to the complexes.
Becky Smith called the residents together late January after she witnessed a spate of incidents that occurred at the bridge. She decided that something should be done.
“It will get worse if we do not do anything. Beggars at the river are also a problem and we need to clean the area as the criminals just come out of nowhere,” she explained.
Details: Becky Smith, beckys@mwebbiz.co.za.
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I was mugged on Malibongwe Drive and President Fouché Road
