An influx of “unsavoury elements” continued to hinder the safety and security of residents in Goodwood over the festive season.
Problem buildings and vagrancy continue to plague Goodwood, says a civic leader.
Faizel Petersen, chairman of the Goodwood Ratepayers’ Association said he concerned, is also concerned about the number of people loitering on Voortrekker Road at night.
“I also have a problem with the amount of problem buildings in the area,” he said.
One such building,One of the problem buildings he has drawn attention to is 5 Anderson Street, Goodwood.
“The building is not suitable for occupation, yet there are close to 30 to 40 people moving in and out of the premises throughout the night. The calibre of people I can see are prostitutes, pimps and criminals who commit petty theft. Police conducted an investigation and also said the house was of great concern, and I passed their report onto the City of Cape Town,” he said.
The Northern News has done several articles on this particular problem building. The City, police and the owner are aware of the ongoing issues at the property (“Light at the end of the tunnel,’” Northern News, May 17).
Mr Petersen said there appeared to be many more vagrants in the area as they are, earning money from begging and doing odd jobs.
“We also noted a few illegal dumping incidents taking place, where residents pay the trolley pushers to remove waste, and these guys dump it on open grounds close by, making it someone else’s problem,” he said.
John Ross, chairman of the Goodwood Community Police Forum (CPF), said festive season crime trends in the area had been static.
in Goodwood did not really change over the December holidays compared to the same period in 2017.
“We had our usual increase in unsavoury elements loitering close to the two major shopping malls: N1 City and Goodwood mall,” he said.
Mr Ross said planned operations by the police, CPF, neighbourhood watches and Goodwood Ratepayers’ Association had helped to keep crime down.
“Theft out of motor vehicles remains a huge problem, and the CPF encourages people not to leave wallets, sunglasses, handbags, cell phones and laptops lying in plain sight in their cars.
“Residents are also urged to ensure that their cars actually lock when operating their central locking systems as remote jamming is on the increase,” he said.
Parow police spokesman Captain Kevin Williams said robberies had been down in December – something he attributed to increased police visibility throughout December on the streets and shopping malls crimes such as robberies in varying categories took a dip over the festive season.
“Our main concerns, during the festive season were break-ins at businesses and houses. All serious crimes showed a decrease in incidents compared to December the previous year.”
Roger Cannon, chairman of the Parow Community Police Forum (CPF), met with the Parow police management on Tuesday January 22 to look at the festive season crime trends.
He thanked neighbourhood watches for their vigilance during the holidays.
However, he said before the Christmas period began the CPF had asked NHWs in the area to be vigilant as they knew police would be busy patrolling at hotspot areas.
“I would like to thank, the NHWs for doing their bit; in their respective communities,” he said.