On May 7, residents discovered a body at the Ridgeview tennis courts.
Residents of the area believe the body was that of a woman, they raised concern that the woman might have been raped before being set alight, however, the police did not confirm this.
According to resident Madelein van der Merwe, they suspect the body had been burned using tires. According to her, the neighbourhood children use tyres as goalposts when playing soccer on the courts, which leads them to suspect this is what was used.
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Numerous residents mentioned they heard screams at around 02:00, but were too afraid to go out to the park, aside from the fact that it happened during load-shedding and it wasn’t possible to see anything in the park, they were afraid for their own lives.
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Van der Merwe also mentioned there is a tavern close to the park and they suspected the screams may have originated from there and after the screams, it was dead quiet.
Van der Merwe added that another resident saw flames originating from the park not long after the screams were heard.
EC Security’s Jacques Morton stated they responded to a community call about a fire by the swings just after 22:00. The reaction officer and the community member then killed the fire and chased away the culprit. The next morning when the body was found they were informed by the community and the SAPS was contacted.
Challen Marks, also a resident stated the community has contacted the Department of Sport and Recreation to hand the park and tennis courts over to the community to be repaired, however, nothing has come of it as of yet, finances are however also an issue, as explained by another resident, Kyle Dunbar.
Van der Merwe mentioned the community has reported many instances of vandalism, theft, and other illegal activity that takes place in the park, yet no one has done anything about the issue.
Ward 86 Councillor Chantelle Fourie-Shawe stated the Department of Sport and Recreation has permitted the community to trim the trees in the area, however, no trees are allowed to be removed as only Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo can authorise this.
Colonel Lefa Tsotetsi, Florida Police Station Commander, confirmed, “A case of murder was opened at Florida station. The investigation is continuing.”
