Residents in east petrified

Fear and panic are gripping residents in estates bordering the Pretoria East Cemetery, as squatters living in the green belt behind the graveyard seem to be becoming increasingly violent.

A resident who wished to remain anonymous saw a man run for his life from the squatter camp after both his hands had been brutally chopped off while he was on his way to the local shopping centre this past Saturday morning. “I was shocked to see this man running from the squatter camp, he had lost a lot of blood and was in agony. Police arrived on the scene and assisted the man, who was unable to identify himself,” the resident told Rekord.

“What stops them from using the same weapons on me and my family when they decide to break in?” he added.

Martie Steenberg, who also lives in one of the estates bordering the graveyard, confirmed that what used to be an irritation was now a serious threat to her family.

“There have been a number of robberies around here and we know exactly where the problem is. I am too afraid to approach them directly. On weekends they play loud music and have parties, and we just have to take it. You can hear screams at night. I can only imagine the horrors that are happening in that squatter nest,” she said.

Nico Delport, developer of the neighbouring upmarket retirement villas, Blue Stream Estates, added that he had numerous security problems, as the number of squatters had increased. According to Delport, he had to install double electric fencing, more cameras and guards as a deterrent for criminals scaling the estate walls from the squatter camp side. “It has been a total nightmare and is costing me a lot of money. We have tried to cope with the problem over the last five years but there has been a change in the past few months. We have serious concerns about security. The police seem unable to deal with the squatters effectively,” said Delport.

Garsfontein police spokesperson, Dave Muller, said the police were dealing with the squatters as effectively as possible.

“In areas such as the squatter camps in the east of Pretoria, mob justice is a problem. There is also an uncontrolled influx of people and inevitably an influx of criminal elements hiding among people living there. They are scared to identify the criminals and it is difficult to distinguish who is a criminal and who is not.”

According to Ward Councillor Lex Middelburg, the Tshwane metro’s deafening silence on the issue was justifying residents’ growing concern.

“The metro has a responsibility to answer calls for help from residents. The crime situation is clearly out of control and then there is also the health issues to consider. These squatters have no infrastructure at all. They bathe and defecate in the spruit which flows to Woodlands. The problems regarding squatters have a ripple effect and the metro’s inaction and dragging their heels to address residents’ concerns is making the problem even worse.”

The metro was unable to comment at the time of going to print.