Eldorado Park residents continue to protect shopping centres against looters
Many having sleepless nights as they patrol the community to ensure that all businesses are safe from looters.
As many residents come together to clean up shopping centers after protests and looting took place this week, the community of Eldorado Park continues to stand together against looting in their community.
Dwain Ponsonby who is from the Patriotic Alliance (PA) explained that the community of Eldorado Park decided to keep their area safe and protect their shopping centres because it provides essential products and services to the community as well provides jobs for locals.
“We will not allow the looters in because if we allow the elements of crime in our community, we as the residents in Eldorado Park will suffer. We witnessed the looting in areas near us like in Nancefield, and there was no bread because Nancefield is the place where all the bakeries are. Yesterday there was a shortage of bread because our industrial area was looted. We have to try to secure our food sources,” said Ponsonby.
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The Shoprite centre in Eldorado Park, extension 5 is open for residents, and as Ponsonby said that residents do not have the money to ‘panic buy’ so they are just buying the basics that they need today.
“We are on high alert because the people who are looting are determined to loot the stores. Our community has come out in numbers and every night we are over one hundred men and women safeguarding our shopping centres, and these residents who represent different political parties. This is a community effort; we are standing in unity against the looting that is taking place,” added Ponsonby.
According to the community leader, there was also a little girl who was bumped one night as they were patrolling the area and the mother had her last moments with her daughter on the side of the road while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Ponsonby said that the looting has caused police and ambulances to be called out in other communities which is causing residents such as the little girl’s mother to lose her daughter as the ambulance could not come into the area.
The residents have been working closely with the South African Police Service as well as the Johannesburg Metro Police Department to monitor the different shopping centres in the area.
Businesses in Freedom Park, Kliptown, Devland, and Nancefield were all affected by the looting during the week.
“I want to thank the community for coming out and supporting us, there are people who come and give coffee and soup for us at night, it’s so cold at night so this helps us,” concluded Ponsonby.
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