Johannesburg - A few months after law and order seemed to have been restored in Muldersdrift, crime has returned, with residents being terrorised again.
And this time criminals seem to be attacking with a vengeance in the form of violent armed robberies.
This has left residents wondering whether there it is a move to drive them off of their land.
A few years ago, crime levels in the area reached disturbing levels when gunmen targeting residents left several people dead, many wounded and women raped, houses ransacked and belongings stolen.
Concerned about the spike in crime, the police increased visibility in the area and several people were arrested.
Even then, there were some whispers of a “third force” being used to drive residents out.
In one suburb of Muldersdrift, 14 people were allegedly attacked, seven were shot at and three died. But some residents say the attacks have nothing to do with land and were just plain criminality. For a while, crime seemed to have subsided.
Now, the area is once again under siege, with criminals apparently more brazen in their attacks, and those who moved there hoping for peace and tranquillity moving out because of the trauma they experienced at the hands of gunmen.
The police have refused to divulge details of the attacks, including the claims of fatalities, since the beginning of the year.
“This office is not in a position to release crime statistics for certain policing areas. Statistics are only released by the minister of police. If you have any questions about a specific crime, this office would respond promptly,” police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said.
Despite being given the dates on which some of the attacks occurred, Dlamini still would not confirm those incidents.
*Vincent, 74, and his wife, 68, were shot on February 26, just two days before they were due to move out of Muldersdrift to start their retirement in Cape Town. Their gun, cellphones, his wife’s handbag and other items were stolen. Vincent is still in Gauteng while his wife is still fighting for her life in intensive care.
On March 2, 27-year-old *Joe, who was holding his infant daughter, had to duck bullets as gunmen stormed their house, pushed his girlfriend on the floor and started shooting at him. Their seven-year-old daughter, who was in the house, witnessed it.
The family are now traumatised and looking for a new house as they prepare to move out of the area. “I moved here two-and-a-half years ago because it was peaceful and it’s very beautiful. We used to sit outside and have supper, but now when it gets dark we go inside and close the doors and windows,” Joe said.
Two weeks ago, Peter (who did not want to give his surname) and his fiancé were lying in bed when a man opened their bedroom curtain, and pointed a finger and a gun at them. He had two other men with him.
Peter, 32, said although he and his fiancé quickly pressed the panic button, the men didn’t flee but just stood there.”I couldn’t understand why they were so cocky that they didn’t even flee,” he said, adding that the men fled only when the security company and police arrived.
Peter, who has been living in the area for more than 18 years, said it wasn’t the first time that he had been attacked. “I’ve even been shot before. I think these attacks are being perpetrated by a group of people from the squatter camp trying to chase people from their land.
“Although being attacked has become second nature to me, I’m not going anywhere,” he added.
Vincent, however, disagreed with Peter and didn’t think the attacks had anything to do with people being driven out of the area. He thinks it’s just pure criminality. “I think it’s just a bunch of murderous, thieving bastards,” Vincent said.
Dr Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies said that between 2007 and 2008, they did research and found that crime levels on smallholdings in places like Muldersdrift were sky high.
Burger said they couldn’t find anything related to a third force or anyone trying to force people off their land, although that couldn’t be excluded as the reason for the attacks.
What they instead found was that the area was surrounded by poor people, some of whom resorted to crime.
“The poor see the affluent as having something they don’t have. But it doesn’t mean that everyone in those communities is a criminal; the problem is that they either live there or are hidden there.”
Burger said that what was disturbing about the attacks in Muldersdrift was the violence accompanying them - and it wasn’t known why the attackers usually resorted to it. “Excessive use of violence is the unexplained aspect of crime in South Africa.
“There are many countries in the world that have crime but the violence is what sets South Africa apart, as well as the arrogance displayed by some of the offenders. This arrogance shows that they have lost respect and fear for the police.”
* Not their real names
The Star