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KIRSTENHOF police met with the SA Police Service's Crime Intelligence Unit yesterday (Monday) to compile a strategy against an aggressive crime wave that has hit the area in the past three weeks.

Station commander Superintendent June Cilliers did not divulge details of the strategy, as no details should reach the criminals they are fighting. A sudden upsurge in aggressive and gun-driven crime has shaken local communities.

On Friday, 21 March, a 58-year-old Tokai resident was hijacked and assaulted outside Tokai Forest. Two gunmen fired two shots next to her head and sped off in her car.

On the same day, a resident from The Common was followed in his car and shot at by two men who tried to hijack him.

The resident returned fire and the men sped away.

On the morning of Monday, 24 March, robbers broke down the door of a Plumstead home even after seeing a woman inside, and she seeing them. Having forced their way in, they fired two shots at her husband and then fled with a plasma screen TV.

On the Bergvliet-Kreupelbosch-Meadowridge Watch (BKM Watch) website, it is reported that a series of burglaries took place in Nova Constantia on Wednesday, 26 March.

According to the report three men attempted seven house break-ins in the Spaanschemacht, Zomerlust, Mount Prospect and Brink Close area, of which one was successful. On the same day, two women were robbed while talking on Cambier Road in Kreupelbosch. One of the robbers had a gun.

On Thursday, 27 March, a Constantia family was held at gunpoint and robbed by four men in their home. On the same day, a 16-year-old from Meadowridge had to lock himself in the bathroom to secure himself from a robber. He called his mother, who in turn informed the police. The suspect used a crowbar to force the front door open and proceeded to ransack the house. He attempted to get the teenager out of the toilet. Diep River Police arrived on the scene and arrested the man.

In the latest incident, an estate agent was robbed while showing a house in Bergvliet on Sunday, 30 March.

While the Kirstenbosch policing precinct appears to be under siege from criminals, the Diep River and Wynberg Police Stations say violent crime in their areas has not shown an increase in the past few weeks.

Inspector Keith Chandler, spokesperson for the Diep River Police Station, says that violent crime in the current period is actually down by 18,6% in comparison to the same period last year. This 18,6% decrease, he says, amounts to 26 cases.

Superintendent Cilliers says, however, that the crime incidence in the Kirstenhof policing area has caused great concern, but adds that the situation "is under control".

The station has increased its visible policing efforts and officers are putting in extra hours. Negotiations are also under way with SANParks to allow the police unrestricted access to foot paths and horse trails in and around the neighbourhood of Tokai bordering the forest.

Cilliers says that even though it is unclear who the criminals responsible for the incidents are, police suspect that criminal activities in the Constantia area could be tied to workers in the area, while a syndicate could possibly be at work in the broader Bergvliet area.

Four significant arrests have also taken place. Two men are to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, 1 April in connection with driveway robberies in Constantia, while two more appeared in court on Monday, 31 March in connection with a hijacking and assault case that took place at Tokai Forest.

People's Post spoke to David Bruce of the Centre for Violence and Reconciliation in Pretoria to ascertain whether the local increase in violent crime could be part of a national phenomenon. Bruce said that even though national statistics show that crime is on the decline, this does not exclude the possibility of increases in certain areas. The local phenomenon could, however, be caused by various "secluded" factors such as, for example, gang movements, he said.

Professor Michael Hough, Director for the Institute of Strategic Studies, concludes in a report titled "Criminal Terror in South Africa?" that "the increase in certain categories of crime; the growth of organised crime; corruption; and excessive use of violence in many crimes is not a uniquely South African phenomenon, but affects many countries, including all Southern African countries".

He adds, however, that South Africa has been placed at the top of the list, or close to the top, in surveys of the incidence of murder or rape per 100 000 people. "This is in itself an indication of how serious the situation is, even when certain categories of crime are statistically shown to have reduced."

Local neighbourhood watches are urging residents to become active patrolling members to fight crime.

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