Ribbons on streetlight poles worry residents
Danville residents are concerned that criminals are tying coloured ribbons on streetlight poles to mark their homes.
Small ribbons tied on streetlight poles in Lotz Street, Danville have begun to concern residents. Since Saturday night, residents have noticed different coloured ribbons on their streetlight poles.
According to resident Elize Viljoen, she was sitting with her daughter watching TV last week Saturday when a white double cab bakkie stopped in front of their house. “After the bakkie left, my daughter and I noticed a ribbon on our pole. The next day when we looked in the street, there were more ribbons on other poles.”
Viljoen said they had asked around and spoken to other residents about the ribbons, but no one could tell them anything. She said they initially thought a resident in the street may have had a party or something similar, but it seemed this was not the case. Residents are now worried and scared because they suspect the ribbons are a new marker for criminals to get information on a certain house.
Resident Oupa Sefoka said the different coloured ribbons indicated different messages about the house and its occupants to criminals. “A specific ribbon colour indicates to criminals what they should steal, how many people are in the house and other important information like that.”
Sefoka said painted markings on some houses were also the work of criminals. “This is scary, because we have elderly people living in our street and already there is a house that has been broken into when everyone is out during the day.”
He also said he had seen the same white double cab bakkie without a number plate that Viljoen and her daughter saw, and suspected these were the people tying the ribbons on the streetlight poles. “We have contacted the police about these ribbons and painted markings, but they have not done anything. The local security company often patrol in our street, but we seldom see the police.”
He said water meters had been stolen from houses in the street too. Police could not confirm whether or not the ribbons had anything to do with criminal markings at the time of publication.
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