Community unites against crime
Turffontein Safety Forum Group wants to see Turffontein as a crime-free area.
Concerned residents of Ward 55 have taken it upon themselves to form Turffontein Safety Forum Group (TSFG) to fight against crime in the area.
For now, the group of about 200 members, mainly staying in touch through WhatsApp, cover the following streets: Church, Park, Stanton, Union and Sworder. They formed this group because they were tired of theft and drugs in the area.
Among other things, the objectives of TSFG are to stop the selling and buying of stolen goods, stop house break-ins, fight car hijackings, secure and monitor abandoned houses, assist in building walls and gates for these houses, help one another, live in a neighbourly friendly manner and report any criminal activities within neighbourhoods.
Their community leader, Nqobani Ndlovu, said thieves are arrested and come back to the area to terrorise them, so that is why they are driving them out of their area.
“We go into houses we know there are thieves and tell them to leave. These houses are called dark houses as they don’t have electricity and thieves take advantage of that situation.
“We chase all the thieves in those houses and leave only the trolley pushers and people who work. After getting rid of the thieves, we clean and secure the house. The community is united in this. They want to live in peace and harmony,” explained Nqobani.
Successes of the group
The group has been hard at work since its formation more than three months ago. Nqobani said as the community they have built a wall in a house in Stanton Street.
“In Church Street, we have demolished the back rooms where criminal activities were happening and built a durable wall with a gate. Similarly in Park Street, we have criminal elements removed. We have recovered stolen goods that were sold within the community, and we have removed drug dealers in our area,” he said.
Future projects
They want to monitor and erect gates on the service lanes because they say the criminals use them as their getaway passages.
“We want to work with our local councillor, especially to erect speed humps in Church Street between Park and Garden streets because people use this road as a freeway. There are no stop signs on the corner of Church and Park streets, nor at the corner of Stanton and Park streets. Our ultimate goal is to expand this group to the whole of Turffontein and keep our area safe,” he said.
The group communicates mainly on WhatsApp and have meetings once a week. They want to work with the councillor and police.
For more information contact Nqobani Ndlovu on 074 824 3388.
