Cape Town - The Bishop Lavis Community Policing Forum (CPF) says it is worried the area is being use to dump the bodies of people killed elsewhere.
This after the body of a man was dumped in Karee Road on the weekend with a bullet wound in the head.
Ward councillor Angus McKenzie said bystanders could not identify the victim, but said he was shoved out of a white VW with no registration number.
McKenzie said it was not clear whether the incident was gang-related, but said the victim had a “Fancy Boy” tattoo on his body.
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said the circumstances surrounding the death of the unknown person were being investigated. Traut said the motive for and the cause of death were yet to be determined, and no one has yet been arrested for the murder.
Bishop Lavis CPF chairperson Graham Lindhorst said two weeks ago the Crime Prevention Unit had to put a lot of their resources into looking for a body that was burnt and dumped along the N2, taking resources away from preventing crime in the area. Lindhorst said this was putting a strain on the limited resources to fight crime in the area.
“We first saw this through car hijackings perpetrated in another area and ending off in our precinct. With the police visibility, we have seen a reduction of crimes committed than before in our precinct. The criminals don’t easily take chances to commit crime in the precinct, but they now use our areas as a dumping ground.
“This is something that we as a community can successfully put an end to with the help of other community-based crime-fighting and prevention organisations. As the CPF, we will have to sit down with police and ask what plan they have in place.
“There is also a need as a community to set up more street committees so that we have more ears and eyes on the ground,” said Lindhorst.
McKenzie said he was extremely concerned that crime was now coming in from outside of Bonteheuwel.
“The circumstances around this murder is unknown, but it’s clear that people don’t know who the individual is and neither the vehicle he was thrown out of. This sort of behaviour is unbecoming and completely out of touch with what Bonteheuwel has become.
“I am hoping that police will make use of a range of CCTV cameras in the area, which has not been done in the past, to make sure the necessary arrests are made,” said McKenzie.