The Sunday Independent

Zandspruit sees ’drop in criminal activity’

AMANDA MALIBA amanda.maliba@inl.co.za

TWENTY-FIVE days since the gruesome mob attack that took place at Honeydew’s Zandspruit informal settlement, members of the community say although the mood in the area is still sombre – there is a sudden drop in the violent crimes that used to be the order of the day.

Zandspruit was thrust into the spotlight over three weeks ago when a group of locals tortured and burnt nine young men at the local soccer grounds, accusing them of being behind a spate of rapes, muggings, assaults and housebreakings plaguing the area.

Eight of the young men lost their lives.

Meanwhile, criminal activity is said to have subsided since May 19. But the big question on everyone’s lips is how long the peace will last.

The overcrowded community – with no proper roads, electricity, or sanitation – was established before 1994, and residents who have lived there for over 27 years say crime in the area has been rampant for as long as they can remember.

Thirty-one-year-old Sifiso Nkosi (not his real name) said although the dangerous neighbourhood is quiet, he would not dare walk at night or flash his phone. Nkosi chose to keep his identity anonymous, saying since he has opened a case against one of the slain victims, he might be further victimised.

“I understand why those people took matters into their own hands. Crime in Zandspruit has escalated into uncontrollable measures and what makes it worse is that the perpetrators are known and they do their crimes openly,” he said.

A few metres away from where we were standing, Nkosi points out an old silver-grey bakkie with a group of young boys hanging around it.

“It is a well-known fact that those boys are selling drugs such as crystal meth, khat (methcathinone) and weed, substances that have destroyed our neighbourhood over the years but nothing is being done about it. Why? Because these gangs run the streets, intimidate the community and collude with the police,” he said.

In December 2020, Nkosi said he opened a case against the slain Irvin Malley and his brother for armed robbery and they continued to harass him at home.

“I went to their mother to ask for her assistance against her sons but instead she sided with her children, saying I am disrespectful for coming to her house. I went to open a case thereafter and the pair followed me and threatened that I must withdraw the case against them and I said no,” he said.

With the tension brewing among community members, some siding with those that were arrested, and some sympathising with the bereaved families, Nkosi said as a victim of the crimes – he feels that this radical action of “disciplining” the nine young men sent out a strong message to others that crime will not be tolerated.

“Now things are different. If someone screams for help, people are more open to helping them unlike before when community members were scared because once they are spotted trying to help, they become the next targets,” he said.

Zandspruit councillor Victor Mafinya said to tackle the issues of crime in the area, it would take the national government to intervene, stating that the City of Joburg does not have the capacity to deal with these issues.

“Zandspruit has a huge problem of land-grabbing and people flocking in from nowhere every day. This one issue has a domino effect on other problems like service delivery that needs to be prioritised, houses should be properly demarcated and more roads should be built so even police can properly move around. If we do not deal with the issue of land invasion, then we will continue to have problems of overpopulation and continued crime,” he said.

Almost three weeks ago, Minister of Police Bheki Cele had announced that he will deploy a team of investigators to probe issues of crime in the area.

METRO

en-za

2021-06-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thesundayindependent.pressreader.com/article/281625308247946

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