Burnett Street in Hatfield quickly turning into a mini strip of crime and lawlessness

Residents and business owners in Burnett Street in Hatfield in the east of Pretoria voiced their concerns over crime, public drinking and lawlessness which they say are plaguing the area.

The street, which is popular for its nightlife spots, is fast becoming a crime hotbed.

The street houses many student accommodation establishments, restaurants and nightclubs, with several students having fallen victim to crime.

The section of Burnett Street between Grosvenor and Hilda streets is coupled with a large number of clubs, with students and other patrons flooding the streets on weekends.

Car crashes, crowd fighting and loud music are now becoming a norm in the area.

Rekord has seen various CCTV footage showing how cellphones are stolen, and how car crashes are caused by drunk drivers and public drinking.

The Hatfield City Improvement District (CID) organisation has been collaborating with private security and the police to fight crime and keep Hatfield clean.

Drag racing, fake Uber/Bolts, cellphone snatching, deafening heavy music, lawlessness, drunken shouting, public drinking, drunk driving and vomiting on pavements are some of the issues that have been identified.

Head of security for the Hatfield CID, Deon van Rensburg, said the streets are full of students from Thursday until Sunday.

“It is difficult to drive past Burnett Street on those days as a lot of vehicles are parked on the sidewalks and even on the street.”

Van Rensburg said after the nightclubs close at 02:00, patrons throw mini parties, playing loud music from their cars. They settle on the streets in camping chairs and cooler boxes and are guilty of public drinking.

He said they are concerned about the fact that patrons move out onto the sidewalk, where they continue drinking and making a noise.

“Residents of a block of flats opposite the club are tired of all-night noise made by drunken patrons until after 06:00 in the morning.

“Where are the TMPD to enforce the by-laws? Where are the TMPD to conduct drunken driving operations on this street to deal with the drivers drinking outside the clubs till in the morning?

“We are faced with a serious problem as they urinate and make a mess everywhere, since the clubs have closed and there are no bathrooms.”

Van Rensburg however also lauded the police for helping in the fight against crime.

“The police driving around with blue lights on deter common robberies and help us keep the students safe.”

He said over 70% of the Hatfield CID’s budget goes into safety.

“We are committed to making this place a safe place, however, we cannot do it alone. We need more visibility from the TMPD because we see the police are being helpful.”

Van Rensburg said the area is increasingly being plagued by crimes such as theft out of and of motor vehicles, fake e-hailing services and cellphone snatching, among others.

He said cellphone snatching by fake Uber/Bolt drivers is the most common crime in the area.

“Students are targeted by fake Uber or Bolt drivers. This is evident as when we catch one, he goes around with us to identify other suspects and indeed, it is those e-hailing drivers.”

Van Rensburg said the biggest problem dealing with the e-hailing guys is that they change their number plates regularly.
“So every time they enter Hatfield, our licence plate recognition takes time to identify first-time visitors.

“This can be stopped if Uber and Bolt also have branded visible signage or branding just like other forms of public transport, such as meter taxis and shuttle services, to make it easier to identify them as legitimate transportation services.

“So even if they change number plates we can recognise them through the signage.”

He said the modus operandi is always the same.

“They move in the car as a group, then they drive around looking for unsuspecting victims. Once they spot you, they grab your phone, get into the car and drive off.”

The fake e-hailing drivers park their cars on the road, leaving the engine running so that they can make a quick getaway.

He said that is mainly where the TMPD is needed to move the cars off the road and prevent cellphone snatching.

According to Van Rensburg, the latest incident of cellphone snatching happened two weeks back.

“We gave chase to a BMW registered on an e-hailing platform, and we even damaged our vehicle with repairs estimated to be over R30 000. We chased the car from Hatfield to Silverton. The drivers unfortunately jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot.”

He said this was a dangerous pursuit.

“The guy skipped all the red lights and he was not only endangering himself but also other drivers on the road. It was established that the vehicle had been wanted for cellphone snatching incidents in different surrounding areas. ”

In a separate incident in the student-populated Hatfield area, a man reportedly had his cellphone snatched at a store on June 12.

A video circulating on social media shows a man at a food outlet as a thief snatches his cellphone and runs away.

In the video, it can be seen that the unsuspecting victim was buying something at the store and was on the phone. Little did he know there was a man behind him waiting for the perfect time to snatch the phone.

As the victim was about to get what he bought, holding his phone in his hand, the suspect snatched the phone and allegedly drove off in a silver Audi A5.

Rekord contacted the police regarding the incident, but by the time of publishing, they had not responded.

Van Rensburg emphasised that the most serious problem is corruption, claiming police officers are taking bribes which overshadows the good work done by the Hatfield CID.

“We need the badges on the ground. Police have demonstrated to be on our side, working with us. We plead for the same with TMPD, they need to enforce the law, they need to move vehicles away from the streets into designated areas, they need to deal harshly with drunk drivers.”

He said vehicle theft and theft out of motor vehicles are rife.

“Toyota Fortuner and Hilux as well as VW Polos are some of the most targeted brands in this area.

“The sad part is that when we stop them here, they go hit surrounding neighbourhoods. They wait for people to let their guard down, then come back and strike again.”

He said the CID is committed to making Hatfield a better place.

“Corrupt law enforcement taking ‘cooldrinks’ will not stop us from fighting crime, we will continue to fight crime. We just plead for officers to be faithful to their badges and to serve the people.

“These students are my responsibility when they are on the streets, we will make sure that they are safe at all costs.”

Rekord has contacted the TMPD to comment on the allegations of not helping fight crime and enforcing by-laws, but by the time of publishing, no response had been received.

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