Theft of motor vehicle raise great concern in Moot area

The latest crime statistics were released last week, but appear to be inconsistent with what security companies and the CPF in the Moot are experiencing as far as theft of motor vehicle is concerned.

These figures indicate the crime patterns between January and March 2021, compared to last year’s statistics over the same period.

According to the statistics, theft of motor vehicles decreased by 14.8% in Villieria respectively, while it increased by 2% in the Moot.

Chairman of Pretoria Moot’s CPF, Elsabe Weyers, said that co-operation between the police and the CPF plays a significant role in the decrease in crime figures.

“One of the reasons why there is a decrease in crime in the Moot area is due to the regular patrolling launched by the CPF.

“However, a major concern is construction workers in the area who are linked to previous crime participation,” said Weyers.

“Some of these people are employed from the street and possible criminal records are not always looked at.

“It makes it very difficult to identify these people and most of them are foreign workers.

“People leave too many items lying around in their yards and do not park vehicles and motorcycles in a closed area,” she said.

She further mentioned that there is conflict between store managers and car guards.

“This causes car theft at shopping centres to increase.

“We do not have a good relationship with the guards who have been placed, because they are not regular car guards that we know. This makes it difficult for us to obtain meaningful information when an incident occurs in a parking area.”

The CPF encouraged road users to be more considerate when it comes to road signs.

“It seems that people are not set on traffic rules at all,” said Weyers.

“Another contributing factor that leads to accidents is drunk drivers.

“I would like to thank the CPF members for their continued patrolling, under difficult circumstances.

“We have a good working relationship with Pretoria Moot police members who work with us to combat crime.”

Villieria’s CPF chairperson, Rudi Ekland, said that there is a decrease in crime figures, which especially includes car theft.

“It still remains one of our biggest headaches in the area.

“In the last week, not a day has gone by where a vehicle was not stolen.

“But where in the past we received up to three calls a day, we only get one,” said Ekland.

“Complaints about stolen vehicles, especially Nissan NP200 and Toyota Etios, are regularly reported to us.

“During our last patrolling campaign, we were instructed by the police to advise drivers to park their vehicles behind a closed area when noticing these two specific vehicles.

“Many vehicles are stolen at shopping centres and we bring it to the attention of guards to be more prepared and attentive.

“The eyes and ears of our community are of utmost importance so that we can drive crime out of our area.”

Kilnerpark Security spokesperson Ancelize van der Kooi warned that armed robbery as well as theft of vehicles are increasing.

“Over the past few months, cases such as armed house and business robbery have been reported to us,” she said.

Drug-related crime decreased by 53.1% in Pretoria Moot while six more cases were reported in Villieria.

“A number of arrests related to drug offences were made by the police.”

Brinant Security’s Johan le Roux said they have been involved in more than 10 drug abuse cases over the past month.

“Other problems we experience in the Moot are crime outside residential premises. Car hijackings are one of our greatest problems that are brought to our attention.”

Le Roux confirmed that many cases of car theft are also reported.

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