eMbalenhle CPF prepares for the festive season

Ace Vilakazi, the chairperson of the eMbalenhle CPF, is concerned about the surge of common robberies at the malls in eMbalenhle.

Vilakazi said the community must be vigilant in the approaching festive season because criminals are also busy.

“Criminals are now robbing our community members of their hard-earned cash in both of our malls, Emba and Khaya Malls.

“These criminals even pretend to be working at parcel counters at certain shops and disappear with a customer’s parcels after they handed it in for safekeeping.

“We warn our community to be extra vigilant before handing over their belongings to a shop’s parcel counter,” explained Vilakazi.

He said criminals target unsuspecting community members who had just used an ATM.

“The criminal will throw a roll of papers that look like R100 notes in front of the person and when that person picks up the fake money, the criminal approaches. The criminal will convince the victim to go to a secure place where they can share in the sudden windfall.

“The criminal then leads the victim to a remote place where his gang awaits to rob the victim.

“We are warning our community to be extra careful when going to the malls,” said Vilakazi.

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He said as the CPF prepares for the festive season, CPF members will be visible in both eMbalenhle malls to fight crime and work with the police.

He said they have already started to encourage community members to become part of their neighbourhood watch campaign.

“Many people will go on holiday in the coming month and criminals will target houses where no one is home. A neighbourhood watch is important during this time of the year.

“We are holding meetings in all eMbalenhle wards and forming street committees and promoting the neighbourhood watch.

“We urge all residents to attend our meetings because fighting crime is not only the police’s responsibility. Everyone has this responsibility,” said Vilakazi.