DURBAN - Tired of rising crime rates in their suburb, an Upper West community decided to literally nip their problem in the bud.
Residents bordering a green belt just off Stapleton Road in Pinetown have clipped back a green belt to root out criminals who used the thick vegetation as a getaway with their loot.
A new community partnership initiative that started three months ago has tackled rising crime rates with the creation of a farming project.
The Dwell Church in Cowie’s Hill, the international Farming God’s Way project, Business As Mission SA and local neighbourhood watches joined forces to create a project to benefit the community.
“The area in question is the green belt that separates Stapleton Road from the Leeds Crescent community in the area. The biggest concern over the past 15 years has always been the green belt that runs between Stapelton and Leeds, all the way to Willow Crescent and the M13.
“Suspects would mug people or steal things like lines or garden chairs from homes and disappear into the green belt.
“As the local neighbourhood patrol, we began daily patrols of the green belt, which resulted in reduced crime rates. However, now there is a plan for the green belt that will benefit the community,” said Andreas Mathios of the Pro Act Neighbourhood Watch in Pinetown.
The green belt has been cleared and this has resulted in noticeable decreases in crime.
Reg Alexander, co-ordinator of the project, said they took the saying “teach a man to fish” as the central theme to the project.
“Now that the land has been cleared, we are looking at projects that will benefit the community.
“We feel that if you keep running feeding schemes, you make people dependent.
“However, if you have a project that teaches them a skill, they can use that to buy food and take care of themselves.
“We decided that on this land, together with assistance from the local parks department, we would create a space for farming, where we can grow food and teach people how to farm,” said Alexander.
Agriculture is one of the key focus areas of eThekwini Municipality and earlier this week the city announced plans to set up an independent multimillion-rand agricultural agency to develop subsistence farmers.
A R36-million agro-ecology unit is expected to assist vegetable and small-scale chicken and egg farmers.