Residents of the North Coast have had enough of the crime wave

The residents of Verulam, Tongaat, Ottawa and surrounding areas have had enough of crime

By Marimuthu Subramoney
(aka Subry Govender)
On a daily basis South Africans have to put up with armed and violent robberies, car hijackings, hold-ups, break-ins and even senseless murders. This state of affairs has been on the increase for more than two decades and the powers that be have made repeated promises that they are taking steps to crack down on criminals.
But it seems their efforts are bearing no fruit whatsoever. In fact, the crime problem has gone out of control. The residents of areas such as Ottawa, Verulam, Tongaat and surroundings districts are being hit by a new crime wave. The criminals, in recent incidents, have held up and robbed guests at a wedding-eve ceremony in Parkgate and robbed some Verulam people visiting the Phoenix cemetery. They are targeting almost every suburb and township with impunity and the residents have no respite whatsoever.
The response from the police fails to infuse any confidence.
“We have registered a case of armed robbery and are investigating”, is the usual response from police spokespersons.
There’s very little report back that they are pursuing the criminals and bringing them to justice. More often than not it seems they just open a file and throw the document into a drawer where it gathers dust.
At times one cannot blame the police because they are just overwhelmed by the thousands of armed robberies, hold-ups, murders, and break-ins they have to register.
It seems were it not for the private security companies, there would only be anarchy and mayhem in our CBDs and residential areas. The residents would have no recourse to security and well-being at all.
Despite the problems the police face, the residents of Verulam, Ottawa, Tongaat and surrounding suburbs and townships have just had enough of the rising crime and criminals.
The authorities must do something urgently to re-assure the residents that they are taking strong action to rid the criminals from our midst. Anything short of this will only demonstrate that the powers that be care too hoots about law-abiding and tax and rate-paying citizens.