A group of residents from Helderkruin Hill is up in arms over allegations made by a neighbour regarding the alleged out-of-control situation surrounding Skyhawk Close.
Dean Strang and his wife Storm called an emergency meeting with the community and police on 4 September to discuss the crime situation and possible solutions. The group under the guidance of Monty Els and Leon Carstens is not happy with the picture that was painted. According to them, though they suffer from crime, it is not more than in other areas. Carstens says crime in the area is not out of control and the community only is standing together to protect themselves and each other. The group wanted to address certain points that they feel is not true because they now fear that their properties will lose its value and that their reputation as businesspeople has been tarnished.
• Carstens says he is the only one who takes his firearm with him when responding but he never has fired it. One resident, Pieter Louw, says he once fired two shots but that was because he tried to scare intruders in his house. Louw and his wife have been attacked brutally before.
• As far as the group being portrayed as ‘trigger happy vigilantes’ running the streets, they deny this as well. They have been known to take paintball guns and pellet guns with them and say what Strang might have perceived as gunshots were the fire crackers they used to scare away criminals.
• They also are upset about the controversy surrounding the nursery school in the area. The one time shots were fired was at night when the school was closed. According to the group the school is perfectly safe but now the Strangs’ accusations are impacting on the owner of the school negatively.
• The group says they understand that the police does not have the resources to protect them all the time and has praised ADT, Dowry and Helderkloof Neighbourhood Watch for their “excellent work and response”. Els pointed out that the group never goes on patrol or responds without being accompanied by one of the professional security companies.
• The group also questioned Strang’s statistics saying it differs from theirs. According to them they are in constant radio contact with the security companies as well as the neighbourhood watch, and the figures they receive are not the same as Strang’s.
“We stand together and have become like a family. If anything the incidents have strengthened our bond and sense of community, and in this we believe lies the answer to the problem. Unfortunately Strang has other agendas and has chosen to exclude himself from this strong chain; yet he was quick to call upon us when he was in trouble,” says Carstens.
Els also said a cement palisade will not do anything to solve the problem and that only the interaction between the residents, neighbourhood watch and security companies will be successful.
