It has been a month since different security companies increased efforts and resources to eradicate crime in Golden Harvest Park.
Security companies are adamant that their regular patrol of the area will substantially decrease crime which is spiralling out of control.
These patrols are part of the Ward 101 integrated crime combating initiative which includes several stakeholders. Some of the stakeholders are Honeydew police, Douglasdale police, Community Policing Forums, Johannesburg Metro police, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo as well as Johannesburg Property Company.
Ward 101 councillor Dalu Cele endorsed the initiative and said he received a positive response from residents since these patrols started about a month ago. “Their visibility in our areas is yielding positive results as crime incidents are gradually decreasing,” he said.
Cele added that residents were starting to see the results of regular patrols and most of them wanted to use the park again. He indicated that they were planning to increase visibility in other hotspots such as Banburry Cross Village, Olievenhout Avenue and along Malibongwe Drive.
“Crime has gone down significantly in the last month and we believe that very soon this park will get back to its original glory,” he said.
Some of the security companies involved in this initiative are Community Support Services (CSS), Londoloza, ADT, Chubb, GP Group and SOS.
The SOS operations manager, Chris Diedricks said that crime in the park and area was becoming more violent. “These crime incidents started spreading into the residential areas since criminals were using the park as their centre,” Diedricks said. He said since the inception of this initiative, crime in the residential areas bordering the park has also dropped.
Londoloza’s head of Tactical Response Team (TRT) Shane Theunissen said there were numerous incidents of muggings and robberies in the park. “We have TRT that focuses on these crime hotspots to ensure that we keep our clients safe from these criminals,” he said.
Details: Ward 101 Councillor Dalu Cele 073 446 8653.
