The Yeoville Community Police Forum is urging the community to support the forum.
“We are not receiving enough support from the community. People don’t attend meetings,” said Yeoville CPF chairperson Joseph Dube.
The forum was elected late last year.
Dube said the team is ready to work with the community in fighting crime but like any other forum, there have been challenges.
“The community has lost trust in the SAPS and as the CPF we want to restore that but we can only achieve that when everyone comes to the table,” said Dube.
The chairperson said he is concerned about the high level of crime in the area.
“In order to tackle serious crimes we need to address the petty crimes. In Yeoville cellphone theft is a major problem but it is not addressed.
“The community does not even open cases anymore because they feel it makes no difference. That becomes a problem because when stats are released, we don’t have a true reflection of the Yeoville SAPS crimes because people are not reporting crimes,” said Dube.
“Yeoville SAPS has been accused of being corrupt by the community and want the station to be closed. As CPF we want to address such issues because we are the voice of the community and the bridge between SAPS and the community,” said Dube.
“We cannot point fingers and do nothing. Fighting crime is everyone’s responsibility and by being involved in the CPF meetings you get the platform to find solutions and see how we can make an impact in our community,” said Dube.
Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane recently released stats and it showed an increase in murder cases in Yeoville.
The murder statistics in 2017 was 17 and in 2018 it is standing on 24.
Yeoville Police Station showed progress in reducing contact crimes from 1 591 to 1 452 (nine per cent decrease) and property related crimes from 820 to 646 (21 per cent decrease).
Common robbery increased from 184 to 211 cases (increased by 14 per cent) and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs from 230 to 340 (48 per cent increase).
Dube urged residents to attend the CPF meetings held every third Thursday of the month to address issues in Yeoville.
