AfriForum’s neighbourhood watch in Kraaifontein reacted in September to various incidents in cooperation with the Kraaifontein Sector 4B neighbourhood watch and the SAPS.
These two neighbourhood watches reacted two weeks ago after two suspected robbers threatened two victims with knives and robbed them from a cell phone. The neighbourhood watch launched a search and, thanks to cooperation by the community, succeeded in apprehending one of the suspects. After the victims positively identified the suspect, he was handed over to the police. The other suspect jumped over a wall and escaped.
In another incident two days later, the neighbourhood watch members spotted a suspect with a gas bottle on a bicycle. The patrollers requested him to stop, but he took flight. The neighbourhood watch members followed him, he fell from the bicycle and they apprehended him. The suspect then confessed that he had stolen the gas bottle from a vehicle. Neighbourhood watch members were able to find the owner of the vehicle and gas bottle after the suspect had provided them with a description of the vehicle. The suspect was then handed to the police and charged with theft.
The neighbourhood watches were also informed of a vehicle accident on the N1 where medical support was needed. Some of the neighbourhood watches’ first-aid officials reacted immediately. The vehicle had rolled and had come to a standstill against a concrete wall. There were two people in the vehicle; one was declared dead on arrival, but the neighbourhood watch succeeded in stabilising the other, who had minor injuries. Medical officials of Titanium and Cmax Security, as well as the SAPS were soon on the scene and took over.
“We are privileged to be part of a community where the SAPS, neighbourhood watches, security firms and members of the community realise that we all strive for a mutual purpose, namely to safeguard our environment,” says André Theron, Chairperson for Safety of the Kraaifontein branch.