Cape Town – Pinelands, the so-called Garden City of Cape Town, is facing a major upsurge in crime with armed robbers brazenly jumping over high walls and storming into houses while residents are still at home.
The situation has become so bad that the leafy suburb is quickly losing its status as one of the safest suburbs in Cape Town.
In one of the worst incidents, Richard and Valerie Francis survived a two-and-a-half hour ordeal during which they were tied up and robbed last month by four men in balaclavas.
The depth of the crisis is evident from the Facebook page Pinelands 531 – Crime and Safety Updates, where lists of residents have recorded robberies that include criminals scaling walls, lifting security gates off their tracks, and having no fear about invading occupied homes.
The Pinelands police, the Pinelands Neighbourhood Watch and a security company operating in Pinelands, Pinewatch, have recorded a spike in robberies and break-ins during the past four-and-a-half months.
Pinewatch controller Ronel Vorsatz said there were so many break-ins, attempted break-ins and armed robberies in Pinelands that she would “never, ever refer people to come and stay in Pinelands”. Crimes were committed there every day.
“Pinelands is not safe at all. There is always a suspect, there is always a break-in,” said Vorsatz.
Police media liaison officer Frederick van Wyk said there had been a “slight increase” in house robberies there since December.
The suburb offered “easy access” to criminals because it bordered on six railway stations and several “previously disadvantaged areas”, he explained, adding that the problem was compounded by doors and windows without burglar guards, or being left open.
“Often the reason why criminals become quite brazen is because of a lack of general awareness,” said Van Wyk.
Pinelands Neighbourhood Watch chairman Peter Hoffman said the suburb, which has 5 500 homes, was an “island of wealth in a sea of poverty”, and had experienced a “spate of armed robberies and housebreakings” since December….
South Africa Today – South Africa News
