House-breaking, drugs and bogus churches are a daily occurrence in Roodepoort. And, as if that is not enough, motorists must be careful when parking on Van Wyk Street, especially when there are fewer people on the streets, where I have personally experienced my car almost being stolen on three occasions.
Before leaving your car, you must carefully check the surroundings because strange men make a habit of leaning against walls near parking bays with their hands suspiciously behind their backs, while at the same time your car alarm does not respond to being switched on. The last time this happened, I decided to stare at the stranger until he moved away.
You should always double check that your alarm lock has responded when you walk away from the car. In one case, when my alarm lock did not respond, I had to do it manually to make sure the doors were locked. I was halfway across the street when my instinct told me to go back to the car, only to find that it had mysteriously been opened.
Houses are broken into, not just at night or in the early hours of the day, but in broad daylight. Criminals are free to do whatever they feel like, whether you are home or not. This is especially scary for elderly people whose homes are targeted the most.
Perhaps, what is worse, is that you can report crime but nothing happens because the police rarely bother to show up. And, when they do come for a house-breaking, you will be told to please not touch anything because they will send people from the fingerprint section. You will wait in vain for days or even weeks.
Even if you catch the thieves yourself, it will end in failure. There is a recent case where a criminal was caught by residents and the police were called. The man was arrested in the early hours on a Sunday. When no report came from the police the next day, the person whose house was broken into three times (by the same criminals) approached the police station, only to find the criminal was set free.
There was no record of his arrest or of the members who had arrested him; it seemed like all that information had disappeared into thin air, just like that!
There are also many businesses in Roodepoort where you will find a group of men sitting by the door, day in and day out. Inside, you will find the shelves virtually empty but outside traffic will be busy, with cars driving up and being attended to outside. What do you think is the legitimate business in such cases? What is being sold, if not drugs? A few years ago, there were just three churches in the area. Now there are more than 15 churches located in all corners. You will even find a double storey building with a church upstairs and downstairs. This is confusing at best or at worst, a criminal front.
My question is simple, “Do you believe crime in Roodepoort will ever be fought against by the same people who are friends with the criminals who terrorise us in our homes?” I am appealing to the Minister of Police to consider re-deploying police in Roodepoort.
