The residents of Lentegeur are fed up with the crime and violence in their area.
They raised their concerns with the police, Ward 76 councillor and community leaders on Saturday May 5 at a meeting at Lentegeur police station.
Community activist, Ruwayda Edwards, said they hoped to find some solutions to the problems.
Lentegeur resident, Ganief White said: “Our young people of Lentegeur have been shot and killed over the past few months. We need better infrastructure to keep our respective areas in Lentegeur safe and clean. There is dumping and smoking taking place on our fields and I don’t think it is fair to the community who lives there.
“If we want to better our communities, it starts with us. We will be part of the problem if we do not do something about safety and security in Lentegeur,” said Mr White.
Another resident, Shihaam Miller, questioned how many police vans were on patrol at any given time and Colonel Herman Seals, the station commander of Lentegeur police station, said there was only one.
Resident Tasneem Galant said the sector commander of Lentegeur police station is not visible enough to the community and they cannot get hold of him.
Anotherresident,Mishka Kassiem agreed and said the councillors and SAPS are unavailable in times of need.
“This cannot happen at a vital time such as this, when we need to be working together,” said Ms Kassiem.
Colonel Seals said in a 12-hour shift there are three vans at the police station, two vans for sector managers and two vans for crime prevention, which makes it seven vehicles in total. “In a 24-hour shift, all of those vehicles will not be available at the same time as they need to take turns, leaving only one police vehicle patrolling at a time,” said Colonel Seals.
GoawaTimm,councillor for Ward 76, was challenged by residents who would like to see her more active in the decisions being made on behalf of community.
All organisations in the community need to support the key role-players including SAPS, the sub-forums and Ms Timm, in order to improve the safety structures put in place and come up with
new ways to make the community safe again, said Michael Jacobs, deputy chairperson of the Mitchells Plain Residents’ Association (MURA).
No arrests have been made for murders that have taken place in the area.
Contact Michael Jacobs on 074 811 2052 or Ruwayda Edwards on 073 560 3590.
