Residents in Vredehoek and surrounding areas are living in fear following a spate of robberies and other violent crimes in the area in recent weeks.
Garden’s resident Anthony Rees, who is also the former founder and chair of the Gardens neighbourhood watch, says there’s been a “gradual rise” in crime since the start of the national lockdown in March 2020.
“This is mostly opportunistic crime like theft out of motor vehicles. The second thing which has risen rapidly is muggings with the use of knives and guns where people are being held up and having cellphones and bags stolen etc. We have seen a shift in the crime patterns.”
He says this has created “an element of fear” in the community. “It is discussed regularly in the various social media groups now. Many people are saying it is attributed to the increase of homelessness in the area.”
Rees says while they understand that police are under resourced, they are calling for more visible policing.
Oliver Barnett, chair of the Devil’s Peak Vredehoek neighbourhood watch, says as the neighbourhood watch they have increased their patrols in the area to try and alleviate the crime.
Barnett encourages residents to report all crime incidents to the police.
“We try and get everyone to report to police so that we can keep our crime stats up. We have had some successes and a few criminals have been arrested and taken off the street.”
He says an area like Stroompie has been identified as problematic and as a spot where some of the perpetrators hang out.
Ettienne Ferreira, owner of Truekrav a self-defence training school in District Six, says he recently held a free-self defence workshop to teach people the basics of self defence.
“In town the crime has been tremendous. I get people on a weekly basis that have experienced muggings in and around the city bowl. We have decided to host a proper self-defence workshop to educate residents in self-defence. I say ‘educate’ and not ‘teach’ for a reason. That reason is because fighting back is not always the right answer. But when it is, you have to fight back properly, or you can die.”
Ferreira shares some useful tips:
- Fighting for possessions against someone who is more skilled in violence is not a good idea.
- Only fight back if your life or the life of someone else is in real danger (again, not their cellphones or wallets)
- Any fight will result in injuries. Even if you win easily (and you will never win easily)
- Therefore, defending yourself will never be easy and injury is only worth it if life can be saved.
- In order to fight back you need to learn a system that focusses on the right principles, teaches you how to adapt, and teaches you how to do that under pressure.
The City of Cape Town recently employed 100 law enforcement officers to Cape Town’s Central Business District (CBD) to increase policing and make the inner city safer.
On Wednesday 24 August, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith officially welcomed the officers who have been on active duty since Friday 1 July).
Keep your doors locked all the times, - Park in well-lit areas at night,
- Keep enough distance from the car infront of you to enable you to change lanes and derive away in a hurry.
- Don’t pick up hitchhikers or strangers
- Always have your car/house keys ready when walking to your car/entrance to your home.
- Be alert of strangers begging at intersections and avoid giving them money.
- Never open your window when approached by a stranger, If you think you are being followed, drive to a busy place or a police station
- Don’t keep any items on the seat of your vehicle.
