Informal traders, pointsmen, and traffic light tamperers, your days in Fourways are numbered
Who are those camouflage-clad officers around the robots in Fourways? Well, as informal traders, makeshift pointsmen, and infrastructure vandals face a growing number, they are there to reclaim Fourways streets for safety.
A man was recently arrested while tampering with traffic lights at the Uranium Road intersection, a clear signal that Fourways is cracking down hard on street-level lawlessness.
From informal traders to makeshift pointsmen and vandals, no one is being left unchecked. A visible presence of camouflage-clad officers at intersections is part of a broader effort by the Fourways Improvement District (FID), a non-profit company contracted through Fidelity Security Services, to restore law and order in the area.
“My duties are driving around Fourways, preventing crime, checking the infrastructure lengths of potholes, traffic lights, street lights,” said Motsamai Rapetwa, Commander of FID.
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Ward 94 councillor David Foley, who introduced the initiative in 2024, said, “The dream was to have a safe place, lights are working, traffic flowing. Then the traction would come to the various businesses because you could drive nicely, you wouldn’t have any problems.”
A recent milestone was the cleanup and fencing of land near Fourways Mall. “We built that fence. Now I’ve got the JMPD there because I know them quite well. We’re also going to tackle the fence across the other side between Winnie Mandela Drive and Witkoppen Road from Pineslopes all the way to the front. We’re going to take the squatters out and then monitor piece by piece. We’ll start bringing law and order.”
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Enforcing bylaws hasn’t been easy. “Some say they received those papers from Metro Police in Midrand. If we take their stuff, they’ll open a case against us. So we involve Metro Police. But without Metro Police and SAPS, we can’t make it,” Rapetwa said.
“As security officers, we are not above the law… If we have them [Saps], we can win.”
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Rapetwa said there’s already progress: potholes are getting fixed faster, traffic lights are functioning, and reported robberies at the N1 off-ramp have stopped.
“We are here 24 hours, six to six. The message is clear: Fourways is no longer a soft spot for lawlessness.”
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