It takes the collective effort of a village to look after every member of that community and thanks to all the neighbourhood watches in the greater Goodwood cable theft was thwarted.
“This was a huge win for the greater Goodwood and thanks to the NHWs that constantly provide information, platforms and opportunities to help residents understand, report and stop crime in its tracks,” says James Ellis, chair of the Glenwood Neighbourhood Watch.
A resident from Glenwood saw suspicious activity next to the Monte Vista railway line and reported it immediately on the Glenwood NHW communication platform.
It took minutes for the experienced patrollers to activate the joint information group alerting Goodwood NHW, Tygerdal NHW, Prasa Security, WC Protection Services, the police, as well as all the armed patrol companies of the greater Goodwood and Gap and Byers to attend to the situation.
“A Goodwood patroller was dispatched to the Monte Vista Station to notify the station security, who immediately chased after the suspects.
“In the mayhem, one suspect jumped over the vibracrete wall and straight into the arms of the Goodwood NHW patroller and another Prasa security officer. The other three suspects were caught on the railway line by Prasa with incriminating tools (spades and relevant cable theft tools) as well as some cables to the estimated value of R15 000.
“The suspects were then handed over to the authorities who will now handle the legalities required to prosecute them. What we need to celebrate with this, is the team effort.
“Every single person involved worked together to make a difference for our community,” says Ellis.
