Amanzimtoti watch groups keep a beady eye on crime
Between Athlone Park and Illovo, including Illovo Heights, these volunteer-driven anti-crime groups are only growing in number and strength, as discussed in a meeting on Thursday, 14 June.
AFTER the realisation that the police force and armed response units are overwhelmed with the area’s crime, the greater Amanzimtoti area has seen a rapid growth in neighbourhood watch groups organised and powered by the community, for the community.
Between Athlone Park and Illovo, including Illovo Heights, these volunteer-driven anti-crime groups are only growing in number and strength, as discussed in a meeting on Thursday, 14 June.
Being one of the first known community crime groups in the area, Athlone Park owes its existence to a meeting held under a lamp post in Churchill Road in late 2016. However, it was only in 2017 that a formal executive of volunteers stepped forward under the chairmanship of John Jones.
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“The residents had indicated quite clearly that crime was a big problem,” said John. “At that stage we were suffering cable theft, house robberies and burglaries. All were extremely high.”
John explained that residents realised the police needed all the help they could get.
“The residents realised it was time to take matters into our own hands and after finding out what the law required of us patrollers, we began our watchful work,” he said.
John’s explanation of the birth of the Athlone Park neighbourhood watch resonates with that of the others in the greater Amanzimtoti area. One by one, the areas started realising the importance of a watch group and have since noticed a clear reduction, albeit not complete discontinuation of crime in their communities.
Many of the watch-groups have a similar take on combating crime. Volunteers who patrol the streets on different nights of the week has proved an effective deterrent method.
“We aim to use both the seen and unseen approach,” said Warner Beach South Neighbourhood Watch chairman, Craig Upton. “We have sign boards up throughout the area, as well as cameras, warning those entering the primarily residential area that there is a neighbourhood watch in progress.”
As for the unseen, Craig explained that when working hand in hand with CCPO, the neighbourhood watch aims to patrol ‘unseen’, whereby all loiterers deemed suspicious are ‘swept’ towards them by the patrolling branded CCPO or Blue Security vehicles.
Most of the groups communicate through Whatsapp groups, which volunteers, their families and anyone else in the area all belong to. This culmination of eyes and ears, all contributing to relaying information about any suspicious happenings throughout the community, has proven a highly effective means of combating crime. Athlone Park’s group has now exceeded the allowable Whatsapp group size limit and the group has since converted to telegram to communicate.
Patrollers (in their pairs) in the Warner Beach South Neighbourhood Watch also liaise with other paired patrollers through the use of radios. Nine cameras have been installed in the Warner Beach south zone so far, and the group looks to add more in the months to come.
“In time, we hope to have enough cameras installed so that we need not patrol, but rather act as a response unit when the cameras catch something happening,” said Craig. “However, the cameras and their installation come at the cost of a few members of the community, and this can become expensive to these few.”
Doonside’s neighbourhood watch operates from the railway bridge over towards the seaside, covering the southern area which consists of many blocks of flats. Chairman Clive Fuhri explained that this area is preyed on by car thieves. Most residents in this vicinity are pensioners, and for this reason, there is no patrol schedule but the community rather relies on camera footage.
“The cameras assist us to learn more about the break-ins,” he said. “Once we learn how they do it and what is enabling the burglaries to happen quickly and effortlessly, we can increase our security to deter this. We are also looking to install more cameras throughout the area, also always monitoring the only entrance and exit to the area – the bridge.”
Amanzimtoti’s Beach Road is beset by drugs users and sellers and loitering, unofficial and dubious ‘car guards’, but the organisers of this Amanzimtoti watch group admit they seem to have most of the issues under control, with the help of beach law enforcement officers. A common gripe among the different crime watch groups is the careless disregard of bylaws. The chairmen concur that if the bylaws were more strictly enforced, this would uplift the whole area and crime would decrease.
It was made clear that official, scheduled patrols are the only effective way to get out there and see whats going on in your streets. John explained that in Athlone Park there are 31 men and women who volunteer their services as they are available. This group, along with others, has ‘spotters’ who are residents merely taking a stroll around the block or walking their dog, that keep an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious. Craig explained that in Warner Beach there are now some pensioners who, in the afternoon, have organised their own patrol around the block, contributing in ways they can.
“It’s important to highlight that these neighbourhood watch groups have more benefits to the community than what we initially thought,” he admitted.
“There are some people who have lived in the same house for 30 years and still don’t know their neighbours. Bringing the community together plays a vital role in combatting crime. Friendships have been formed, we even hosted a neighbourhood braai some weekends ago. We now know more about those that are making up the community we live in.” It was evident that these crime-combatting groups have given many residents a purpose, and a new lease on life.
To join your area’s neighbourhood watch, where you’ll have the opportunity to contribute in a range of ways, refer to the relevant contact detail:
- Athlone Park, John Jones: 072-329-9348 or Pavin Govender: 083-627-0695
- Kingsway Road (from Oppenheimer Road/Kingsway robots South), Thea Venter: 083-231-8227
- Amanzimtoti’s Beach Road: beachroadtoti@gmail.com
- Doonside Security Network, Clive Fuhri: cfuhri@gmail.com
- Warner Beach South Neighbourhood Watch, Craig Upton: 071-361-6649
- Illovo Heights, Veni Steyn: 078-589-3537
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