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Residents of Lavender Hill, Steenberg and Hillview say they have had enough of crime.
Mark Schrikker, an executive member of the 7945-community group, who organised a protest in Prince George Drive on Saturday 18 June, says the most basic human right is the right to safety.
“We want better service from the police and we need a more effective structure for safety. Crime is very high; the stats they are giving us are not true or real.”
Schrikker says people are being robbed daily while others are being killed.
“In Hillview, people can’t go to work because they are robbed and taxi drivers are being shot. Everyday there are over 30 shots going off (in) the area.”
He adds that residents are forced to pay protection money to gang members.
“A 24-year-old who works at a retail shop in Tokai had to move to Grassy Park from Steenberg because every month the people ‘tax’ him, they demand money. They wanted R12 000 from him. Gangs also shot a shop owner because he did not want to give protection money.”
Schrikker says they want the area to be safe for their children.
“We want our children and grandchildren to grow up. We had Leap (Law Enforcement Advancement Plan) officers here for two weeks and then they went back to Hanover Park. We were told they are only coming back later in July.
“The community needs to be safer. Last week Saturday, a 79-year-old woman’s house was burgled twice in one day. Her door was broken, her fridge was stolen and they came back for her TV. The police did not respond immediately,” he claims.
“We’ve also asked for police patrols when children go to school and come from school, but nothing.”
Dorothy Soetwater from Hope Pentecostal says too many innocent lives are being lost.
“We want the police to stop the drug lords, it’s because of drugs that crime is happening in our communities.
“As a community, we feel that we cannot always trust them because when we call them, they don’t act.”
Soetwater says the crime is getting out of hand. “They shot a taxi driver last week and he died. We all came together because we feel that we are a community, our lives matter. We need police protection.”
