High crime rate in Netreg and Bonteheuwel scares the community

In an email to GroundUp, Warrant Officer November Filander of South African Police Service (SAPS) Western Cape Media Centre explained that most gang fights in the Bonteheuwel and Netreg areas are drug related and contests for drug territories. He wrote that the Western Cape police have a gang strategy in place and that crime prevention operations are conducted daily in identified areas. The targets of these operations are gang strongholds, illegal shebeens and drug houses. There are also visible police vehicle and foot patrols as well as crime awareness projects in schools, community halls and churches. However, Filander said that the police cannot tell all their strategies because that could jeopardise future operations. He said that last week SAPS arrested four people for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition and arrested 27 people for possession of drugs in Netreg and Bonteheuwel. Filander also said that he could not give GroundUp any crime statistics for the two areas because of the moratorium placed on crime statistics by the National Minister of Police.

Shahieda Engelbrecht is a Bonteheuwel resident who is prepared to talk out. “I am extremely afraid to walk around my neighbourhood. I think twice before I leave the house because of gangs. I leave all my valuables home before I go out to avoid being robbed by drug addicts and tik monsters.”

Another resident, Candice (not her real name), said the criminals target anyone who stands in their way of making money regardless of age, sex or race. “There is too much going on in those two areas and nobody is courageous to talk because they are scared of becoming victims.”

Candice said, “Police appear to be scared of the crime rate in the area so they do not perform their duties effectively. When the police arrive at the crime scene they question witnesses who normally give insufficient information so as to protect themselves. The more you knows the more you are in danger. Recently a girl was killed on her way to work. Other residents suspect she knew too much and the criminals were scared that she will disclose it to the police so they killed her. People in the community talked too much about her. For instance she knew who shot who and who did what. The community silence is hindering the police from carrying out their duties effectively.”

She added that there are community members who spy for the criminals and they benefit by not being harmed. They try hard to remain faithful to the criminals for their own protection. She says some of the spies sold out a small boy who had disclosed the name of a person who bought a stolen blackberry from the criminals. The boy was killed she claimed.

Besides crime, unemployment in the two communities is extremely high. Children as young as thirteen years old drop out of school to collect scrap for sale because there is no food in their homes. Some of the residents start borrowing money weeks before month-end with the intention of paying back with a social grant.