Cops warn about spike in crime

Taxi View SAPS station commander, Colonel Lindiwe Dyantyi and Table View CPF chairman, David Harris.

Marine Circle is a hot spot for robberies and assaults, says Table View’s police chief.

At a public meeting last week, station commander, Colonel Lindiwe Dyantyi, said contact crimes had gone up from the beginning of April to the end of May, especially assaults and robberies.

“Robberies and assaults are the highest contributors to this increase in contact crimes, and I think if we could put a lid on this, we could drastically decrease contact crimes as a whole,” she said.

Most assaults were the result of domestic violence, she said.

According to Colonel Dyantyi, the police are winning the fight against property crimes, which have been a major headache for them in the past.

Colonel Dyantyi said robberies around Marine Circle could be due to criminals targeting drunk revellers coming out of nightclubs.

The Table View/Blouberg area is separated into three sectors. In Sector 1, Porterfield and Waves Edge accompany Marine Circle as the top robbery spots. In Sector 2, Parklands Main and Parklands North are the problem areas, while in Sector 3 they are Site 5 and Potsdam Road.

But Colonel Dyantyi said crime in Potsdam Road had ebbed in recent months, owing to action by the neighbourhood watches, security companies, law enforcement, and the traffic department.

Colonel Dyantyi said in the past two months police had arrested 43 people for assaults, 13 for robberies, 11 for housebreaking and nine for theft out of motor vehicles. In the same period, police had confiscated 11 firearms and 34 other dangerous weapons.

Table View Community Police Forum member, Anthony Bantich, was unhappy that most of the 30 people at the meeting were from the CPF, SAPS, TLC Outreach Projects, traffic services and security companies.

“It is a disgrace that the community didn’t come out tonight. All people ever do is just moan on Facebook but can’t even take an hour of their lives to make a community meeting. SAPS are doing this for the community, but they aren’t getting a commitment in return,” said Mr Bantich.

Table View CPF chairman, David Harris, said if Table View had a major crime issue, residents would be there in numbers.

“Our police and other role-players are doing their best to keep our area safe, and it seems as though people look at that and take it for granted. We need people who are interested in what happens in the community, and we need people to show up at events like this,” he said.