Durban - The eThekwini Municipality has shocking footage of crime at KwaMashu’s busiest shopping centre, in which young drug users are seen committing robberies In broad daylight.
The footage is from the municipality’s CCTV security section. Employees said the criminals were committing crime with impunity at the station complex. The police did not respond promptly.
The Mercury has seen footage in which young men popularly referred to as “feranjis” gather behind a supermarket to gamble and take drugs. They rob shoppers, motorists and delivery trucks. One piece of footage showed a man attacking a security guard.
KwaMashu Station is made up of the Metrorail station, a business centre and a taxi rank. There are also street vendors. The crimes were occurring right in front of the metro police, whose huge building is in the area.
“Police are alerted, but they just don’t respond. They are called via two-way radio, but they don’t seem to co-operate,” said one of the operators of the CCTV cameras.
The Mercury saw vagrants hanging around the entrance to a take-away outlet, begging. They offer to carry groceries for shoppers but then make off with the shopping.
The CCTV footage showed criminals positioning themselves as a delivery truck approached, and forcing open the back to remove goods. They mostly target vehicles at traffic lights.
A truck stopped after being robbed and the driver and another occupant jumped out to close the back door, but as soon as the vehicle moved again the same criminals opened it and removed more goods. The irate truck occupants jumped out to give chase and tried to hit the criminals with a sjambok.
Pedestrians appeared to pay no attention to it all.
A man was attacked in broad daylight as he got into his white Toyota Yaris after he had handed coins to a car guard. This same car guard could be seen making hand signs to criminals to attack.
In another incident, criminals jumped on the back of a loaded furniture truck to remove items, including what looked like a microwave oven.
“In one incident police responded quickly after we had alerted them to the robbery of a delivery truck. Immediately after criminals had been apprehended, people from taxi ranks and vendors surrounded a police vehicle demanding the police let go of the criminals. They were freed,” said a CCTV operator.
Police spokesperson Thulani Zwane said: “According to KwaMashu police, concerted efforts are being made by the station management to address these robberies. We have also intensified our patrols along Malandela Road and at the shopping mall.”
He said they had briefed other relevant role-players so they could work together to wipe out drugs and crime in the area. A suspect had been apprehended on April 10 for posession of dagga.
“We will not be able to divulge our strategic plans as it will mess up the operations.”
Locals claimed that most of the young men were relocated from “whoonga park”, near the Durban University of Technology’s City Campus in 2013.
Former KwaMashu community police forum member Thandiwe Sokhela said the shopping centre did not have such a massive crime problem in the past.
“Since the metro police brought these vagrants from the city and dumped them at the station, trouble started,” she said.
The Mercury