Musgrave residents rally to tackle escalating crime

RISING crime may be a sign of the times but for concerned Musgrave residents an increase in crime in Sector 1 of 136 per cent calls for urgent measures to be taken to combat it.

“We believe crime is exacerbated by the unchallenged presence of beggars, vagrants and street children living on the streets and in our parks. I was staggered last week as I watched a steady stream of ragged vagrants and street children heading north up Essenwood Road for two hours without respite! Some settled in Berea Park, even occupying the roundabout meant for children – others kept moving – going, I believe, to a vacant property further up the road they all sleep in. Vagrancy and street kids on the Berea is much worse than I thought,” said a member of Sector 1.

One of her colleagues, Wayne Grundy, had suggested they follow the example of an initiative that has met with some success in Cape Town to discourage residents and motorists from giving money to beggars.

“The idea involves putting up signs at intersections, educating people to give responsibly,” she said.

According to a representative from the Central City Improvement District (CCID), involved in the Cape Town Give Responsibly initiative, the CCID communicated and partnered with the City of Cape Town to roll out the initiative in the central city and distributed flyers which were used to tell various stories to create awareness around destitute issues and how the public could help in a positive way. This was only the start of a continuous campaign, but it was felt the more people who became aware, the more behavioural change would result.

“We have spoken about a poster, an email and a leaflet as well, however it is difficult for us to get permission and a waiver to put posters up on robots as they charge about R15 a day each, so that kills us as a NPO. We also need permission from the council. The idea is to put the logo and contact details of organisations such as I Care on the posters, so as to direct the public to sponsor these organisations. This gives the public an alternative, instead of giving directly to the street children, which goes indirectly to the whoonga dealers, thus exacerbating the problem,” he said.

Bob Humphries, chairman of Sector 1, said he felt another more concrete way of removing beggars and vagrants from the streets was to form a UIP in the area.

“I understand people have the idea that they already pay rates to have their area cleaned and so on, but this area has a lot of flats, which will bring down the cost. Only 66 per cent of home owners in the area would need to agree to form the UIP and a percentage would be added to their rates. The UIP would then form a company to hire a manager to control the area. Car guards would be hired to work in the area and vagrants and street children would be removed. Verges would be cleaned and trees cut back and bins would be emptied, all through this company. I believe this would also lower the crime rate in the area,” he said.

He said people on the Berea were not fully aware of how bad the crime in the area was and that they needed to do something to clean up the area and help the police do their job.

“The police need help as there are not enough resources. The community needs to do something, attend meetings and try get the UIP off the ground,” he said.

An email address has been set up for residents to email through complaints to the sector, along with information on crime so that trends can be monitored and dealt with. Email amathongo@gmail.com