Bakerton community fighting crime
After months of criminal activity, the Bakerton community has decided to take the fight against crime into their own hands and has introduced visibility guarding, a tactic where residents privately employ guards to patrol the streets.
Deputy chairman of the Springs Community Police Forum (CPF), Ahmed Chouglay, has been a resident of Bakerton for over 30 years, and says that since the initiative started six months ago, the entire neighbourhood has been incident-free.
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He says the community came together about six months ago and decided to employ security guards who are each responsible for one street.
“Before we started this, the crime was very bad,” he says.
Ward councillor Ramesh Sheodin agrees with Ahmed and says that there has been a high number of murders and robberies in the area.
Ahmed estimates there to be around 30 guards on duty in the Bakerton community at the moment.
Although the guards are unarmed, residents of each street have a WhatsApp group where any suspicious activity or issues can be reported.
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He says the majority of the community supports the initiative and they also work closely with the CPF and the SAPS.
Themba Boqo has been responsible for Sweetpea Street for approximately six months and says he will fight any intruders.
“There are lots of children walking in the streets and it is my job to keep them safe too,” he says.
