Resident stand-off due to alleged ‘illegal road closure’

A stand-off between residents about the alleged illegal closure of a street is threatening the peace in Heuweloord, Centurion.

It is alleged that residents of Cape Beech Avenue illegally erected security gates to close off their street on both sides due to the high crime in the area.

According to residents, this has resulted in an increase of traffic in Sparden Street and traffic jams particularly during peak times.

According to ward councillor Kingsley Wakelin, he has requested to meet with both parties of residents who are for and against the road closure.

“We already attempted to meet up and get this situation sorted, but one of the key individuals did not arrive to the meeting and we had to reschedule,” Wakelin said.

According to a resident, who wished to remain anonymous, the increase of traffic and the inconvenience of taking a detour is the reason that residents in Sparden Street have blocked the road with their cars to force residents in Cape Beech Avenue to open the gates.

“This has, however, become a cat-and-mouse game now. As soon as the residents in Sparden Street remove their cars, the residents in Cape Beech Avenue close the gates again.”

Heuweloord Resident’s Association chairperson Moosa Bhamjee told Rekord that they will be meeting with ward councillor Kingsley Wakelin and Tshwane metro police members on Monday to discuss the issue.

“I wish the person who made the post on Centurion Concerned Citizens would come forward. I have been away in hospital for a while, recovering from Covid-19 and I have missed a lot of the commotion around this issue. But if I have the names of the people who keep on complaining about the gates, I would address it with them directly,” he said.

“The gates in Cape Beech Avenue have reduced the crime rate in the area significantly. We want to close Sparden Street as well, this is for the improvement of our area and to keep our children safe.”

Bhamjee told Rekord that although he realises the traffic in Sparden Street has increased, he and his committee feel that increased traffic is better than falling victim to crime.

“What would you rather have? More traffic or more crime?

“I’m really looking forward to our community meeting on Monday, so we can discuss this issue face to face and to hear both sides of the story.”

According to the anonymous resident, the “illegal” closure of the street has at least in one instance resulted in the SAPS not being able to attend a complaint in Cape Beech Avenue.

“The police were here trying to get to a break-in in Cape Beech Avenue. They tried to get in at Cape Beech, but could not get to the crime scene.”

Residents in Sparden Street have taken up the issue with local government and politicians, with no luck.

“I have received complaints about this, we are trying to resolve it. I wasn’t aware that things were getting out of hand, and I haven’t heard anything about it getting physical or confrontational,” Wakelin told Rekord.

According to resident Madeleine van Zyl, it seems as if not all residents in Cape Beech Avenue were consulted about the erection of the permanently fixed steel gates.

Van Zyl, who lives in Sparden Street, told Rekord about her frustration.

“Not all Sparden Street and Cape Beach Avenue residents were consulted. False information was given to residents who were consulted, as there were only supposed to be one gate and not both ends of Cape Beach Avenue were supposed to have been closed.

“The increase in traffic is crazy. Sparden Street has 12 houses and Cape Beech Avenue has 44. The traffic has increased from four cars an hour to 20 cars per hour. The municipal bylaws clearly state that should permission be given to close a street, it must be manned by 24-hour security to allow access.

“Sparden Street was not designed to carry this amount of traffic and this now poses a danger to people speeding in this street. What angers us is the principle of people making decisions that impact our lives without considering how we feel about it,” Van Zyl concluded.

A community meeting will be taking place on Monday, 1 March 2021 to discuss the closure of these streets.

The Tshwane metro is yet to respond to the enquiry sent to them.

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