Mass land clearance

Prevailing crime on the corner of Beyers Naudé Drive and Nothumberland Avenue, Sundowner, proved too much for Curro Aurora to bear.

“Curro recently bought land on the [eastern side of the] corner of Northumberland [Avenue] and Beyers Naudé [Drive],” said Executive Head of Curro Aurora Johann Ueckermann.

“As soon as registration is complete we will proceed to fence off the infamous piece of property hosting vagrants. It is ear-marked for building projects.”

He claimed that the reason for the development was to reduce crime in the area, which he believes is caused by vagrants living on the corner.

“These guys once tried to steal wiring from inside the school. Once a resident was shot and killed. The whole of Sundowner will benefit [by the development].”

Honeydew police’s Warrant Officer Gabriel Nonyane confirmed that vagrants live on the corner, and that muggings occur.

“We tried to move [the vagrants], but as long as the area is overgrown, it is difficult,” he said.

“Muggings occur because people walk through the area to go to work. I check that area everyday, and we told people to stop walking through there, but they don’t listen.”

He appealed to residents not to give vagrants clothes and blankets, because it encouraged them to stay and perpetuate crime in the area.

A Trojan Security guard, who only gave his first name, Innocent, claimed that “people use the bush to rob women” on the corner, and he gives pedestrians lifts in his car, so they can avoid the perilous walk.

Ueckermann claimed that once erected, the surrounding fence will be 3m high, and the school is negotiating with Johannesburg Roads Agency for permission to cut grass on a another piece of land the entity owns on the corner.

Ward 114 councillor Maureen Schneeman did not respond by the time of going to print.

Details: Honeydew police 011 801 8613; Curro Aurora 011 795 7100; Ward 114 councillor Maureen Schneeman 083 297 1128.