Cops face crowd anger at CPF meeting
The crime crisis in Richards Bay attracted almost 500 residents of Arboretum and Veldenvlei at the Arbovlei CPF meeting.
THE capacity of police to fight crime in Richards Bay came under severe attack at a mass meeting of angry and concerned residents of Arboretum and Veldenvlei on Thursday night.
The gathering was called by the Arbovlei Community Policing Forum, in the light of a number of serious and violent crimes in the suburbs over the past month.
This includes a lone gunman who remains on the loose after shooting three people, one fatally, and a knife-wielding gang responsible for bloody attacks in residents’ homes.
More than 400 people who filled the Veldenvlei Primary School hall soon made it known that they were not interested in listening to crime statistics: they wanted answers on what was being done and why arrests had not been made.
SAP representatives battled to make themselves heard over continued interjections from the crowd, who expressed anger at poor police response times after reported incidents, and unconcerned attitudes at the police station itself.
Many said they had lost faith in the ability of the police to protect their homes and families.
Reassurances that crime was ‘under control’ and that vehicles numbers and manpower were adequate, were met with derision – a few in the audience suggesting that ‘we must take the law into our own hands’.
Unreliable census numbers, which determine allocations at police stations, were also condemned.
The dust settled after Business Against Crime Manager and Police Reservist Col Dave Whittaker calmed the situation and explained steps currently being taken to ease the crime situation.
These include the establishing and deployment of a specialised task team, augmented by the SAP K9 Unit, Operational Response Services, Public Order Policing Unit and security companies.
The City of uMhlathuze has offered the use of its contracted security companies while its Community Safety Forum is being revived and the CCTV camera surveillance system is back on the table.
The Richards Bay CPF is also trying to facilitate the return of the Community Safety Patrols, which saw security guards on bicycles make a major decrease in crime in the city.
Whittaker urged the establishment of phone and online ‘warning groups’, as well as the formation of street patrols and neighbourhood watches.
Dave, please will you publish the contact list of important numbers from last night, please add lifeline to the list. Thanks, Donald P
For us as a community in Richards Bay, it is very essential to the current Murder and Robbery Crisis to settle in conjunction with the necessary infrastructure and emergency services available in our immediate environment.
What we as Richards Bay resident taxpayers should know, is the fact that we can rely on the Emergency Services that are available to us at any time of day or night.
Determination must be made of all areas to be served such as Richards Bay and all areas and townships included.
We as residence need know who to contact in situations such as murder, robbery, burglary etc. These contact details should be published in the local paper:
• Specific contact details for which Ambulance, Fire and Traffic emergency numbers in case of serious accidents etc… Government Ambulances is only available from Esikaweni and its responding time is critical in case of the Golden Hour in an emergency situation.
• When the ambulance or emergency services vehicle is called to an incident or scene it is very critical for them to respond as quick as possible and also to be safe at all times.
• Future planned Satellite stations should be considered to eliminate unwanted wasted time and criminal activities (Our constitutional right is to experience first class emergency service in your immediate environment where you pay your taxes).
• We need to have the Org structure of our South African Police Service in our areas published with the layout of the Staff, with direct cell phone numbers and the second-in-command in the various departments and their responsibilities?
• We need to know how many vehicles is available for each area, officers on duty per shift, which is supposed to be 24/7 working hours shifts.
• Vehicles for each area should have cell phone available of which the numbers should be published. These phones can be set up that it’s available at all times receive calls and only the emergency number can phoned from these cell phones.
• We should also urgently consider a community radio station for North Coast which will keep the community on track of what’s happening in our immediate community business en activity wise. (For example, my dog get lost in the area and I phone the radio station and within minutes or so somebody will pick up my problem and report back).Now this can be one of the best eye’s in our areas, a radio station to report any unwanted situations.
• The station can be overwhelming in English and maybe from time to time Zulu and Afrikaans in between.
• Municipal Fire and Emergency services can also introduce their organizational charts and the various departments and shifts, identifying the Fire Prevention Department, as well as the operational teams and responsible persons.
• Traffic Services is very crucial especially in the community where there are traffic offenses. In case of accident scenes the traffic department needs to be there to assist and I believe that the current traffic department really needs to function 24-7 as it is supposed to function.
• Crime Prevention Forum (CPF) to fit into this possible plan with identifying the responsible members in the area and to give the feedback to the community as requested at any given time.
This is all part of the potential (Disaster Plan), and yes our Community sits in the position of experiencing for any disaster and we can fight it off.
We as community member of this town and area are more than willing to assist the SAP and Municipality wherever we can. (We paying our tax and rates and expect that the service been done according to our Constitutional Rights)
Well it’s a pity to see that nothing has improved in the 8 years since I decided it’s enough.
I stayed in Empangeni and loved the area, but after several hijackings in the street that I stayed in, my wife and mother in law robbed at knifepoint, a taxi getting on to the sidewalk to try and hit my wife and daughter, my son robbed at knifepoint, an attempted breaking in my house, my garage emptied out and no police response after several follow-up’s I sold my house and moved to Australia. Since then I have no safety concerns for my family, had no crime focused on my family and live in peace. Here I learned that a police officer actually cares, has good manners and understand he I employed to deliver a service without asking for a bribe. I have never seen one in uniform drunk or even in a bottle shop. Police here are trusted members of the Australian security forces and will go out of their way to ensure their duty as police officers is delivered timely and that feedback on any issue is delivered no matter how trivial. Pity I had to move to another country to feel secure and safe. Yes there will be people that say I ran away they might be right but my family is safe and can earn a living without any bias or discrimination. I so wish the same for everybody in South Africa, but as long as the government is this dysfunctional I do not see it happening. When I left South Africa R4.00 bought a AU$1.00 no it is R10.00 for an AU$1.00 this shows me that the country is going backwards quickly. Whish I had an answer but I do not.
Be Safe and look after your neighbour you might need him sooner than you think.