Residents who stay in the area of Keiskama Street in Carletonville say the lack of maintenance by the Merafong City Local Municipality is drawing dangerous criminals to the area.

On February 7 at approximately 22:25 a resident of a back room in the street was brutally murdered in his yard.

The 43-year-old man got up, walked out of his room, and got into an altercation with his murderer. He was hit with a knobkierie and later shot. The resident died at the scene.

Carletonville detectives are investigating the case.

Although they have not yet established the motive for the killing, other residents staying in the same area say that they are constantly being targeted by criminals because the area is extremely overgrown.

There are also no working street lights.

“It is terrible what happened. I knew this man, and he was always very friendly and polite. I was in my yard when my dogs started barking in the corner next to the fence. I started walking to my house to tell my husband, but just as I got to the stoep, I heard the man screaming ‘No, no!’. The next moment, I heard a shot and someone running away. I called, “Are you OK?’ Then I heard him moaning. This was an innocent man,” says the deceased’s neighbour, Daleen Coetzee.

She then called for help.

Coetzee says that residents are afraid because of the tall bushes in the area.

“I often hear people inside the bushes when I walk with my dog,” she says. “The area is also completely dark at night. If only the municipality could put up solar lights, it would make a huge difference,” she adds.

According to a former resident of the house where the man was killed, Sizwe Letsitsi, he and his family moved away because of the unusually high crime rate in this particular area. Their house was burgled several times, and criminals also came into the house to steal while the family was asleep. At other times, they found the burglar bars or the lock on their gate and fence cut, presumably after the thugs were startled by something and aborted their planned crimes.

The area’s ward councillor, Carlos Rebelo, also raised his concern claiming he has tried in vain to get help from the municipality to cut the grass and bushes and fix the streetlights.

“The fields bordering Keiskamma, Coronation, and Reinecke Streets are not merely unmaintained land, it is established escape routes and tactical hiding spots for criminals,” added local opposition party leader, Vusi Mcunana.

The Herald contacted the municipality’s marketing and communications manager, Temba Fezani, and he promised that the grass in the area will be cut.