While the numerous positives outweighed the negatives at the Riverwel Residents’ Association’s (RWRA) annual general meeting (AGM), a fair number of issues were still addressed.
RWRA committee members and residents got together for the AGM, held at Weltevreden Park Pre-primary School, on Wednesday, 10 October, hoping to address a number of issues in the community. The evening got under way with Ward 126 councillor, David Brand, clarifying the way certain processes need to be carried out by the community, and who they need to contact in cases of emergency.
Once Brand had concluded his address, it came time for Honeydew Police Station Sector 2 manager, Sergeant Nicholas Makhura, to deliver his report on crime in the year gone by. “For the station, crime has decreased in general, but we still remain in the Top 30,” Sergeant Makhura reported. He was also quick to point out however, how there had been a dramatic decrease in the number of cases reported in Sector 2, noting that Sector 2 is now the sector with the least cases of all the sectors under Honeydew’s jurisdiction.
He also made special mention of the measures that will be put in place by the Police, security companies, and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) during the festive season, to ensure sufficient surveillance in the areas. Sergeant Makhura’s most interesting point was that there has been a change in the type of crimes in the sector, with the primary type of crime now being house-breaking. His statement was seconded by Community Support Services (CSS) CEO Greg Pearce.
“Crime now seems to be moving away from organised crime, and drifting more towards opportunistic crime such as house-breaking,” Pearce said.
One of the possible reasons for this, according to Pearce, is an increase in vagrant crime, as they will often just break in and steal minimal items. He also stated that there has been a surprising shift in the time-frames in which crimes are committed, with the time-frame now being closer to 3pm instead of midday as before.
In all, there were more positives mentioned and raised during the meeting than there were negatives. At the end of the evening, RWRA’s new committee was elected.
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