Somerset West residents are living under a dark cloud of fear which could lead to vigilantism if the government and City of Cape Town do not step up, says the Community Policing Forum chairman, Billy Smith.
“Neighbourhood watches are the eyes and ears of the police. We request that the government give them more resources. Development over the past five years has increased the population by approximately 40%, but police resources have not increased.”
Smith said the CPF’s biggest concern was the spike in assaults and petty crime. The area had recently seen an increase in crime as a result of the “crowbar gang” hitting areas such as Heldervue and Wingerd/Links.
“As far as residents go, the biggest concern is the increase in vagrants leading to an increase in crime. The City of Cape Town needs to secure parks and bridges targeted by them.
“While the city is taking steps to address these shortcomings, we cannot forge ahead until the national government addresses these legal weaknesses,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, and Social Services Alderman JP Smith.
“Officers conduct regular patrols in identified hotspots. Staff act on by-law contraventions. The city has finite resources and demand for our services far outstrip the supply. Our metro police officers work with the SAPS and made 107 arrests in Somerset West and Macassar from July to September.”
The Reintegration Unit was well aware of the street people hotspots in Somerset West and conducts social outreach on an ongoing basis, he said.
The Somerset West CPF covers one of the largest areas in the Western Cape. It stretches from Sir Lowry’s Pass village to the farming area in Raithby and then to the beach area at Paardevlei in the Strand.
The city needs to address the issue of vagrants and increase resources in law enforcement in areas other than city central, Smith said.
“For instance, metro policing in Sea Point in very visible but we hardly see them in Somerset West. Also, the lack of support by the National Prosecuting Authority in enforcing by-law infringements is seriously lacking.”
Smith said it is simply not true that Sea Point has more metro police officers as the bulk of the department’s resources are deployed in the worst crime-affected areas.
“There is no way that the city can increase its enforcement numbers to satisfy the many communities crying out for assistance because crime prevention is the primary function of the SAPS. The city acts in support of the SAPS. But in the Western Cape the SAPS has been starved of resources, with 4500 police officers removed in the past four years.
“The city doesn’t have the capacity to saturate communities with an enforcement presence and has therefore instituted a number of other measures via public/private partnerships.
These included the rent-a-cop initiative where businesses or communities can pay for a dedicated law enforcement presence, as has happened in the Central Business District, the installation of CCTV cameras through ward allocation funding and resourcing of Neighbourhood Watches, he said.
Lyal Mac, chairman of Bridgewater Neighbourhood Watch, told the Weekend Argus that drugs and prostitution in the area is a huge problem.
Reitz and Island Park were pinpointed as the drug-dealing parks in the area by Mac.
George Kruger vice-chairman of the Victoria Park Neighbourhood Watch said: “The major problem is vagrants streaming into our areas.”
He showed the Weekend Argus proof of weapons and house break-in tools found on vagrants.
In the Victoria Park, Lourensia Park, Paardevlei and Helderzicht area there is a huge problem with young children selling and using drugs.
Frequent crime operations are conducted in Somerset West, according to crime patterns, and significant results are achieved, said police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut.