Residents spoke out at the weekly Security Crime Forum meeting which took place at Melville Junction Church, raising concerns over security awareness and noise levels.
Warrant Officer Rassie Smal, the sector manager for Melville, Auckland Park, Richmond and Braamfontein Werf, was not in attendance at the meeting.
Ways to curb the increase in robberies in the area was brought into question, as housebreaking is on the rise, showing signs there may be an infrastructure of organised crime involved.
“Crime dips, then begins to peak in January. Criminals breaking into homes are well-equipped,” said Steven Rosenthal of security company CSS Tactical.
Residents also questioned whether or not 8th Avenue is being targeted.
Ward 87 Councillor Amanda Forsythe said, “We have to get our neighbourhoods together. We are going to have to have a series of months where we get heavy.”
Another issue raised was that of the noise levels from bars, cafés and other establishments.
“A second problem happening on 7th Street with some establishments, is that in order to offer DJs and dancing, they’re putting all their patrons out on pavements – where they don’t have the right to use the pavement at all. You now have 40 to 50 people on a pavement and even if they are just talking to each other the noise volumes are massive,” said Forsythe.
