‘Flora Park is under siege from thugs,’ says local resident after attempted break-in
A family from Flora Park woke up to the sound of an alarm in the early hours last Wednesday, after robbers broke down a wall and attempted to disassemble the electric gate on the property to gain entry.
POLOKWANE – The resident, who does not want to be named says house-breaking has become the norm in this neighbourhood in the past few weeks.
“In my social circles, there have been almost four robberies in three weeks. At the time of the incident in my house, we were all asleep. Once the alarm rang, we were anxious to go outside and find out what the commotion was about.” He said they realised that their perimeter wall had been damaged.
Read more: [WATCH] Resident shares footage of how burglars broke down his wall to gain entry
“The thieves who tried to enter the property also took down the electric fence on top of the wall.” The man said he “did not bother” to open a case with the police as “cases such as these never go anywhere”.
“We have had housebreakings in the past. Perpetrators were arrested but were released on bail quickly afterwards.” He says he has lost faith in the justice system as he never receives feedback from the police. “We repaired our wall and the electric fence.”
He, however, feels the neighbourhood has become a target.
“The thing with Flora Park is that we all know who does what, but no one will speak out about it. Most of these thieves are drug addicts who hang out at a local bar that closes at 02:00, and when they have to leave they cannot sleep because of the drugs they had consumed. After they leave the bar they become bored, and decide to enter people’s homes to get something they can sell for their next fix.”
He claims some residents know who the culprits are, but don’t want to be seen as “snitches”.
Provincial SAPS Spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe, commented on the issue, saying residents who are not satisfied with the service they receive from the police should escalate their complaints to the station commander or cluster commander for intervention.
