Cape Town - Residents of the city’s urban edge, Durbanville, have been hit by a spate of hijackings, vehicle theft, muggings, and now even brazen house robberies.
Durbanville police have warned residents not to keep large amounts of money in their homes or their safes, after several house robberies during which large amounts of money was stolen.
In December, the Cape Argus reported a number of motor vehicle thefts in the area after six cars were stolen in the space of a couple of weeks.
In the latest incidents, six house robberies were reported, between January 8 and February 7, in the upmarket Durbanville neighbourhoods of Sonstraal Heights, Eversdal, Langeberg Road, Oude Westhof and Ronde Kuil Farm.
On Monday, at Sonstraal Heights, thieves stole R120 000 cash from a safe, and took other valuable belongings including cellphones, laptops, and a TV, with a combined value of R16 000. They fled with the home owner’s vehicle.
During a house robbery in Eversdal last week, perpetrators fled with valuables, including cellphones, laptops, jewellery, and other items to the value of R290 000 and also fled with a vehicle.
On January 28, a house in Oude Westhof was robbed of R35 800 that was in the safe, and others valuables.
Durbanville community police forum (CPF) chairperson Michael Engelbrecht said the police and the CPF had been tracing these incidents.
In their report on the motor vehicle thefts, police said no one was arrested.
The house robberies seem to follow a pattern, but Engelbrecht believed that although the modus operandi was the same, it could not be confirmed that they were related.
He said what was concerning was how brazen these criminals had been – breaking in while there were people inside.
He said the more they got away with this, the more they committed these crimes.
Crest Goedemoed Wellway Park East Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) chairperson Theo Bruwer said the biggest problem was that, in the past 20 years, Durbanville had grown and Fisantekraal, which the Durbanville police station covered, had also grown exponentially.
Bruwer said while this was happening the area lost many good policemen and although the police were doing a good job, they were understaffed. He said resourcing the Durbanville police station and possibly splitting its covering of Fisantekraal should be considered.
“With the combined taxes collected from Durbanville, surely it far outweighs the taxes collected from Fisantekraal. While all crime is important, the residents of Durbanville feel that when police are needed, there are no staff members or vehicles available and victims are told that the vehicle is attending to cases in Fisantekraal.
“Unless someone has been murdered and or an extremely serious crime has been committed, we can wait two to three hours for the police. By then, any criminals that have been caught by our local armed response companies or NHW have been released,” he said.
Bruwer said these incidents were seemingly well organised crimes, where criminals targeted certain individuals and knew of high-value money items.
Friends of Durbanville chairperson Louie Storm said the local neighbourhood watches had been doing a good job in curbing crime in the area.
Storm said that if it wasn't for the NHW, crime statistics would have been worse. He said law enforcement and police were working around the clock, however, the police could do better with more resources.
He said interventions from the provincial and national police management were needed.