Ward 64 residents call on police to act against crime
Residents marched to the Montclair police station following a significant increase in various crimes including hijackings, house burglaries and robberies over the past couple of months.
TIRED of the crime that has spiraled out of control in the area, ANC ward 64 members and residents, armed with placards, marched to Montclair police station on Saturday.
A memorandum with their concerns and demands was also handed over to the Montclair police station commander Colonel Trevor Small.
Jerome Cele, the ANC ward 64 branch secretary, said there had been a significant increase in various crimes including hijackings and house burglaries over the past couple of months.
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“We conducted a door-to-door campaign and interacted with our community. The response and feedback from the majority of the residents was that crime in the ward has been escalating on a daily basis to an uncontrollable level. This was no surprise to us, as we are also residents and have witnessed people being terrorised.
“Among the concerns raised were the increase in hijackings, house burglaries, cars stolen from yards, people being robbed of their cellphones, money and even groceries while walking. People are now terrified to leave their homes, but also afraid to stay inside,” he said.
Cele said they had previously approached the police with their concerns, but nothing has been done.
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“We have reached a point where we can no longer sit around and wait. We decided to march and raise awareness to what is happening to the community. We believe that there needs to be a drastic change in the manner the police are handling these issues of crime. We are also worried that once you have criminals taking over, it means anarchy and acts of vigilantism will follow, and we cannot afford for that to happen.
“The ANC decided that we will take the issues to the police so that they understand what we are asking them to do and we have given them 21 days to provide responses to our demands,” he said.
Colonel Robert Netshiunda, a provincial police spokesperson confirmed the memorandum was received.
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