Criminals can commit serious crimes at local taxi ranks without being seen and traced because the facilities do not have crime-monitoring systems.
One of the victims Noko Mabushe who was robbed at gunpoint at Bara Taxi Rank said he is disappointed that the criminals won’t be traced because there are no cameras at the rank.
“I was robbed of my shoes, purse and gym bag containing my personal stuff as I was walking around the rank to locate a taxi to Chiawelo.
“Immediately after the accident I rushed to security to report the matter and they told me I must go to open the case at Diepkloof Police Station because the cameras are not working so they cannot trace the suspects and see which direction they took after robbing me.
“How can such a big transports hub like this can have no cameras in it”
Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) says that out of 237 CCTV cameras installed to monitor crime in the city centre and surrounding areas, not one is inside taxi ranks, including the notorious Noord Street.
JMPD spokeswoman inspector Edna Mamonyane insisted that there were no cameras inside the taxi ranks and, as a result, they did not receive calls to respond to any crime happening inside the ranks.
“At Bara we had cameras and were broken by either criminals or irresponsible residents, even though we keep telling and urging people to take care of community developments, our plea fell into deaf ears.
“Then in town, we are still working on getting the hubs equipped with cameras and monitors.”
