- Heathfield community leaders are calling for increased security and community involvement to address loitering, drug use, and safety concerns at the local railway subway.
- Long-time resident Glorya van Niekerk highlights the fear residents feel when using the subway and urges for professional security presence and a stronger criminal justice system.
- Ward 72 councillor Kevin Southgate acknowledges past incidents and the need for Prasa to ensure effective security measures.
Complaints of loitering, reported drugs and alcohol consumed at Heathfield railway have community leaders take the stance that it is simply “time to take back our streets and subways”.
Glorya van Niekerk, a community leader who has lived in Heathfield for over 30 years, said it was simply not the beautiful and safe space she was accustomed to.
“I’ve been a resident for 31 years and it was a beautiful community when we moved in here, but I no longer feel safe unless I am driving in my car,” she shared with People’s Post.
“I think of those who are walking, who don’t have transport and bring the issues of drugs, alcohol and robberies to my attention.”
She claims that many residents who make use of the subway live in constant fear as they simply do not feel safe.
“They fear for their lives walking down the subway because there is alcohol, drugs and robberies and they ask for my assistance,” she explained. “There was a stage in my life that I also walked and I know the fears of residents, so that is how I got involved emailing the councillor to see what we can do about the subway.”
Taking back
Van Niekerk added that people needed to stand up and reclaim their community.
“The community needs to join up with the local neighbourhood watches.”
“We need a professional Prasa presence on board our subways and railway systems,” she said. “We also need to strengthen the criminal justice system and a user-integrated approach to safety as well as a partnership with community and civil society.”
She raised her concerns in a letter to the City of Cape Town and Ward 72 councillor Kevin Southgate who met up with Van Niekerk to address her concerns last week.
Questioned on whether he was aware of criminal or loitering incidents at the subway, Southgate said there had been robberies reported in the past.
“People have reported incidents of robberies, but what you find is that those people don’t necessarily go and report those crimes,” he said. “When you go to the police, they will say this is not their jurisdiction and that it is the responsibility of Prasa security guards, so that also represents a challenge.”
Security
To his knowledge, Prasa has appointed security who are supposed to be visible.
However, when People’s Post visited Heathfield subway on Wednesday last week (10 July), there was no visible security. “They are supposed to ensure that commuters in the subway are safe but presently people don’t feel safe,” said Southgate. “That is why we have to continually appeal to Prasa to ensure that the security that has been appointed do what they are actually supposed to do.”
According to Southgate, the agreement with Prasa is that gates to the subway would be locked after the last train of the evening and then re-opened the next morning.
“It did not seem to materialise though and as security became more relaxed it started to create a problem,” he said. “Loitering is an issue, as you can see, there are people hanging around and those are the same people the community has identified as the people who are using the subway to do drugs and sell drugs and in general.”
An 84-year-old Heathfield resident who used the subway told People’s Post that the subway at least looks cleaner.
“I’ve lived in Heathfield for a very long time and use the subway to either take a train or to walk across to church,” she said.
“There was a broken fence which we used to just walk across the railway line but now that they fixed it and closed it up I use the subway steps and I’ve noticed that the place is cleaner.”
When questioned whether she felt safe using the subway, she said yes.
