Neighbourhood Watch takes action following Ballito crime spike

Stricter and more proactive security measures are being put in place to curb a spike in Ballito crime.

Ballito Neighbourhood Watch (BNW) chairperson Candice Henderson, said at their meeting last week that although the area had been nearly crime-free for about nine months, there had been a recent rise in housebreaking, theft from cars and common theft.

Security companies suspect the crime increase is linked to a group of men who were recently released from prison and are targeting the area.

“We are lucky that we have not had bad cases of violent crime. There has also been a couple of good arrests and a week ago, the men who broke into the Boat House restaurant were arrested,” said BNW vice chairperson Gary Francis.

Henderson urged residents to test their panic buttons and to install them around the house.

“There was an incident where burglars broke into a house and stole all the electronic devices. The homeowners only have a panic button on their phone so they had to drive to a neighbour’s house to call security and by then the criminals had escaped.”

In a separate case, last week, a couple were assaulted in their Ballito home when five men entered through a sliding door.

Umhlali SAPS captain Vinny Pillay said the burglars hit the couple, who are in their 50s, with closed fists. They were not seriously injured.

“They stole jewellery, two pistols, a revolver, a TV and a laptop,” said Pillay.

Henderson added that street clusters and cameras would be beneficial to the area, adding an extra tear of proactive security.

“We have 56 streets in Ballito and 51 cluster groups.

“One of our biggest projects is currently underway and that is installing six number plate recognition cameras, three in Ballito and three in Salt Rock.”

Henderson explained that the cameras were linked to a company called Snipper and that the public needed to be aware that they are in place to monitor vehicles, not to spy on people or to take facial photographs.

“So far they have been successful all over the country and Snipper has a database which sends us alerts if suspected criminals enter the area. It works that security companies from different areas add number plate details or cars linked to crime or which have been stolen from other areas. As soon as those cars enter our area, we can dispatch security.”

While cameras are currently at main exit and entry points in Ballito and Salt Rock, there are hopes to install them in parks in the near future.

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