Durban — Residents of uMlazi have taken control of the township’s streets and begun to patrol day and night as crime escalates.
Assisted by the local Community Police Forum (CPF) leadership, residents are now camping in and patrolling areas of the township to curb crime. The CPF in uMlazi’s sections 6, 7 and 8 cornered and apprehended two suspects this week after they allegedly robbed a young girl from Z section.
CPF chairperson Phiwa Vilakazi told the Daily News on Thursday after Premier Sihle Zikalala called on communities to revive CPFs, the residents met and activated their forum.
He said robbery was the biggest problem in uMlazi, where people were attacked and robbed of their valuables while going to or returning from work.
Vilakazi said they had divided themselves into groups and patrolled in the early hours of the morning to ensure the safety of people on their way to work, while other groups waited at bus and taxi stops in the evening to protect those returning home.
He appealed to communities to support the patrolling groups with donations to assist with petrol, as they patrolled with their own vehicles.
“We are just starting with the hope that we will grow and form a neighbourhood watch where we can have our security guards, but for now we are doing it for ourselves. We cannot allow our streets to be controlled by criminals. It is our duty as residents to protect our families and properties from these thugs. We also called on the police to assist our members with crime-fighting strategies,” he said.
Vilakazi warned residents to be careful of vehicles driving around, especially those with no registration plates, saying the suspects who were arrested had been driving a neighbour’s car which they had asked to wash but instead used to allegedly commit the crime. He said criminals hired vehicles to use in the commission of crime and warned residents not to allow young boys to wash their vehicles.
Vilakazi said schools were also being targeted by criminals during the day, where criminals robbed teachers of their belongings. Recently, an uMlazi school manager and six teachers were robbed of their laptops and cellphones by three suspects at an office while they were holding a meeting.
The escalating robbery of schools had prompted teacher unions to call on the education department to review its policy that forbade teachers from carrying their guns to school. The unions said criminals were taking advantage of the present policy. In the quarterly crime statistics released by Police Minister Bheki Cele, uMlazi was again declared a crime capital of the country.
In response to escalating crime, more police were deployed to the township and other areas such as Inanda and Plessislaer in Pietermaritzburg, which were also listed as dangerous areas.
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Daily News