The pandemonium next to the Klein Olifants River every weekend is shining a very unwelcome spotlight on an inactive municipal law enforcement unit that cannot enforce the municipality’s nuisance by-laws effectively.

Apart from excessive public drinking, public urination and defecation, unbearable noise, revving engines and general misconduct, like the illegal washing of cars, partygoers are also regularly firing off gunshots, one of which recently struck a unit at the Rivier Park old age complex, with the .45 bullet missing an elderly resident by less than a metre.

Ms Hannie Alberts (79) was relaxing in her lounge alongside her 80-year-old husband George last Wednesday, at around 16:00, when they heard a loud bang.
They thought a light bulb may have exploded, but the origin of the bang was far more sinister.

When Alberts saw something on the floor next to her, she thought it was an insect, but when George had a closer look, he found the .45 bullet lying less than a metre from his wife’s chair.

Octogenarian George climbed onto the roof and saw that the bullet had pierced their unit’s roof, blasting through their ceiling.

They said the noise often keeps them awake till 04:00 in the morning, and that pets have also been poisoned in the Rivier Park complex, where a slew of cat deaths were also recently reported.

“We live in constant fear,” the couple shivered.

The shooting follows a cacophonic war that broke out in Impala Street recently, where a resident was wounded while standing in her front doorway, following a robbery at Tabooz bottle store.

Two armed robbers stole thousands of rands from a tavern owner visiting Tabooz to buy stock on March 2.
They fled on foot to the stadium, where the robbers hijacked a couple’s vehicle and shot their way out.

A woman standing in her doorway to see what was happening narrowly escaped death when a bullet grazed her neck.

The stadium has long been a hideout for criminals.

But nowadays, people visiting the riverbank to drink and party are also armed.
Gunshots can be heard almost weekly.

Residents say the municipal law enforcement unit, many of whom were former police officers, is too scared to confront the inebriated mobs.

“They are cowards,” an Impala Street resident told the Middelburg Observer.

Kanonkop Councillor Helda de Klerk says she reports the ruckus almost every weekend, with residents piling onto her for relief.

Police regularly patrol the riverfront, but never intervene, despite the open public drinking.
The municipality said residents should report incidents so that action can be taken.