THE murder of Shakila Singh in her Musgrave home last week has sparked a massive outcry by locals across the Berea in the face of a spike of crime that has swept across the area in recent months.
With residents calling for action, Save Our Berea has organised a special Monster Meeting to be held on Tuesday, 15 March at St Thomas Church hall in Musgrave at 7pm to address community concerns regarding the spate of crime that has gripped suburbs across the Berea.
According to co-founder of Save Our Berea, Cheryl Johnson, the response to last week’s gruesome murder was overwhelming with the story viewed 22 000 times on its Facebook page and shared across the country. “To say that the people of Berea are angry is an understatement,”she said.
“The normal complaints of a lack of service delivery fade into the distance when faced with the murder of one of our residents. People are demanding action,” she said.
Johnson said the fact that Shakila Singh, was killed by armed robbers in a secure complex situated on the busy Musgrave Road, in broad daylight, was of great concern.
“That these thugs can invade the sanctity of a person’s home in broad daylight shows that crime is now out of control. Crime support groups report daily on the numerous instances of housebreaking, car theft and attempted break-ins. Women motorists are harassed daily at traffic lights by aggressive beggars who bang on their windows and spit on their cars,” said Johnson.
She said Save Our Berea hoped the meeting on 15 March would act as a bridge between the community, the CPFs, SAPS and city officials.
“Let us all work together to find an urgent solution. We call on the SAPS to up the ante in their efforts to protect law-abiding citizens. We are great supporters of our police force but we must question whether they have the resources or a working strategy to find a solution,” said Johnson.
Muggings on the rise
MORE than 20 muggings around DHS School as well as armed hi-jackings on the Stephen Dlamini Road edge of Berea were reported last week.
A young schoolboy, Sebastian Terblanche, was mugged twice last month. According to his father Brett, on 3 February Sebastian was walking home from school when he was approached by three men on the bridge in Musgrave Road.
“One guy came at him with a knife, and Sebastian punched him. The two other men held Sebastian down and beat him, damaging his rib and his face. He had to go to hospital. The men stole his cellphone,” he said.
On 26 February, Sebastian was walking home when he came across men mugging a 14-year-old schoolgirl on the bridge.
“Sebastian went to help her, as one man had a gun to her head and another had a knife. The men held him off, then stole his cellphone. On Sunday, 28 February, I took a drive around the area with Sebastian, and when we drove down Musgrave Road, he identified two of the guys. He recognised them straight away, as he said he’d never forget their faces, as the one man had held him down and the other had beaten him. We caught the guys, but the other is still on the loose. The men have appeared in court and the investigating officer is building a strong case against them,” he said.
Terblanche said he was concerned by the high rate of muggings and the fact the three men had been operating in the area for months and nothing had been done by police.
“I have heard there were around 16 to 17 muggings in the area in the past month. The day before Sebastian was first mugged, another young man had been mugged. We can’t, however, let these criminals rule our lives. We must have the ability to walk to school and the shop,” he said.
Urban safety a priority, says Mayor
eThekwini Mayor, James Nxumalo is also concerned by the rising rate of crime across the city and in his capacity as Chairperson of the African Forum on Urban Safety (AFUS), hosted a high level meeting with key stakeholders of the UN Habitat, Microsoft Corporation and the KZN Provincial Government, on 7 March.
The meeting was aimed at mapping out a way for the successful implementation of crime prevention and urban safety strategies. It was also to set the agenda for the functionality of AFUS in carrying out its mandate of ensuring safety and security in all cities within Africa. Discussions on various topics related to crime prevention and urban safety were held.
Nxumalo alluded to how crime poses a serious threat to the provision of services to members of the community. “Not only does crime have an impact on the economic development of the City, but also results in marginalised groups being prevented from enjoying services due to them,” he said.
