There has been a wave of early-morning burglaries in Paulshof West and Lonehill East that has left residents on edge, raising serious questions about local security and the accuracy of reported crime statistics.
At the centre of the concern is a belief among some community members that the scale of the problem is being underestimated by official sources.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, described how his own home was recently targeted by intruders who fled before they could steal anything substantial. He said his complex had already seen six confirmed break-ins, with some homes being targeted more than once.
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“These stats aren’t showing up the way they should,” he said, referring to data released by the Community Policing Forum (CPF).
“In my experience, what’s being officially reported doesn’t match what’s actually happening on the ground.”
The resident believes a lack of reporting from the community may be contributing to the gap. “People are losing faith in the system. They don’t always report incidents because they think nothing will come of it. Break-ins are notoriously hard to investigate, and some residents just don’t see the point.”
The matter has since been raised with Ward 93 councillor Vino Reddy, who confirmed that he had been engaging with both the Sandton CPF and the Sandton Police Station about the situation.
He added that many of the incidents appear to be happening in the early hours of the morning and may involve suspects accessing complexes through the riverine system.
“Over the past few weeks, I’ve addressed this issue with CPF and SAPS. For some reason, many of these incidents were not being communicated to CPF Sector 2. I’ve since spoken with the CPF chair, Jessica Louwrens, who confirmed that this has now been rectified.”
Reddy stressed that SAPS must investigate the trend closely and issue a public advisory, if necessary, while urging all residents to report incidents formally to ensure accurate data and an appropriate policing response.
Sandton CPF has since acknowledged residents’ concerns. Public relations officer Roshan Byjnal explained that the weekly crime trend reports shared with the community are not full statistics but rather highlights of the most-reported crimes in each sector.
“The members of the community have also informed us of their concerns that incidents in their area may be excluded from the weekly trend reports. We have already undertaken to investigate this with SAPS and will provide further feedback, including how the data is generated, to clear up any confusion.”
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Byjnal said the current trend across Sandton remains theft out of motor vehicles, which continues to top the reports week after week.
“It does not mean other incidents do not occur, but that theft out of motor vehicles is the most reported crime at the moment.”
He said it is important for the community to report crimes formally to the police rather than just to community groups.
“By reporting the incidents, it will influence law enforcement deployment and operations in the area.”
The CPF further urged security companies from Lonehill Upper East to attend their weekly security meetings alongside SAPS, JMPD, and other stakeholders, to ensure full representation and coordinated responses.
Johannesburg District Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mpho Tshetlhane was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication, despite follow-ups.
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