In a quest to halt break-ins and promote safety in their neighbourhood, enraged residents from A section in Lingelethu-West, have barricaded several roads with sand and stones on Friday 8 August. The affected streets include Thulani, Luleka and Vuyani.
The residents voiced concerns about rampant crime in their community. They said break-ins have surged to unacceptable levels and vowed to keep the streets off-limits indefinitely. The move will drastically cut movement in and out of the area.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of harassment, said the area has been terrorised by criminals for a long time. In most cases, she said the criminals steal electrical appliances.
“There is a car that goes around targeting people’s homes.
They are targeting houses with no people, maybe the owners are at work, and the children are at school. They take fridges, television sets, kettles etc. This has been happening for a while now,” she said.
Zakhele Street is the only accessible road into the community. “The officers are aware of our concerns.
We closed the streets because we feel the officers are not doing enough to protect us. I am not sure when we are going to reopen them, but we will first monitor the situation,” she said.
Lingelethu-West Police Station spokesperson Sgt Xoliswa Nyalambisa confirmed the closure of the streets, citing that the residents complained of the escalating crime in the area. She did not speak about the status of crime in the area.
Lingelethu-West Community Policing Forum (CPF) chair Lunga Guza said they are also aware of the road closures. He described break-ins as a “huge concern” in the area.
“This has been happening for a long time. It came to our attention around March this year and it seems these criminals like to sit next to the Somali shops in the morning and look out for empty houses,” said Guza.
Guza said patrollers walk around between 05:00 to 08:00 during the week. He stated that they condemned the street closures, but understand the plight of the community.
