- Strand residents gathered at Lwandle Community Hall on Heritage Day to pray against the escalating crime rate in their neighborhood.
- SANCO secretary Khunjulwa Mvukelwa expressed concerns about the increasing cases of murder, house break-ins, and robberies.
- Ward 86 councillor Xolani Diniso emphasized the need for residents to reclaim their streets, citing the community’s fear and the impact of population growth on crime incidents.
As the nation celebrated Heritage Day on Tuesday 24 September, Strand residents gathered at Lwandle Community Hall to pray against crime in the neighbourhood.
The event was organised by the local South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO).
SANCO secretary Khunjulwa Mvukelwa said they need the community to unite and fight against crime.
She said crime is becoming a norm in the area. “Crime is high in the Strand. The number of crime incidents is increasing every weekend. Cases of murder, house break-ins and robberies are escalating every day,” she said.
Mvukelwa said they are appealing for God to intervene before it gets worse.
She described the Strand community as law-abiding citizens who respect the country’s laws.
“We don’t want to take the law into our hands by doing mob justice because we will end up being arrested. We want everything to go according to the book, that is why we appeal to the officers to step up on our behalf,” she said, adding that they want spiritual intervention to the “mess that is happening in Strand”.
Mvukelwa urged the community to work and look out for each other. She said it is vital for the neighbours to know each other to effectively fight crime.
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“It is important when a new tenant arrives in the street to come with a letter from where she or he is coming from so that we can see if she or he is not a criminal. Sometimes a person comes from Khayelitsha only to find out this particular person committed a crime where she or he is coming from,” said Mvukelwa.
Ward 86 councillor Xolani Diniso described the service as part of the awareness in the community. He said the community is living in fear because they don’t know what will happen next.
“Strand is becoming a problem because of the serious incidents that are happening. It used to be a quiet place, but as the population increases there are more crime incidents that are happening here. We want the people of Strand to claim back their streets,” said Diniso, adding that they can’t allow the criminals to dictate them.
