Call for M5 fence to curb Southfield crime

Southfield residents have renewed their calls for a fence along the M5 to protect the neighbourhood from criminals who they say use the freeway for a fast getaway.

The fence would also prevent pedestrians from trying to cross the M5, minimising road accidents, they say.

The issue was discussed during a public meeting held by the Southfield Civic Association at Southfield Primary School on Wednesday October 16.

Residents, City officials, Diep River police officers, members of the community police forum and neighbourhood watches and security firms were among the 50 people at the meeting.

Southfield Neighbourhood Watch operations manager Gregori Bezuidenhoudt said there had been years of “back and forth” over the fence proposal, but with the help of ward councillor Kevin Southgate the “City is willing to listen to us again”.

The plan now was to fence off the section from Dirkie Uys Street to Lourier Road.

Instead of full closure, the civic association wants partially closed-off fencing with foot traffic directed to pedestrian crossings in Banier Road and Dirkie Uys Street.

“We've got a very large part of our Parkwood neighbours who use Southfield station, the primary school, Shoprite, and the public library. So we cannot cut them off from that. So the idea is to channel or funnel the foot traffic to these dedicated pedestrian crossings that already have walkways going right across the M5 that are paved and lit up,” Mr Bezuidenhoudt said.

Putting up the fence would make it easier to police the area, he said. Cameras could be put at exit points, and the fence would stop criminals “disappearing over the M5 at any given point” and jaywalkers being knocked down.

A City roads department official who had inspected the site for the proposed fencing earlier in the day had explained that a public participation process would be needed as the decision would affect both Southfield and Parkwood residents, said Mr Southgate.

Several residents said a fence was needed sooner rather than later but so was more police visibility.

Warren Botha said crime was rife in Dirkie Uys Street and funnelling foot traffic would make things worse. What guarantee, he asked, did residents have that the road would be better policed.

Shahied Manie said he had moved from Woodstock to Southfield thinking it was a nice quiet area.

“We need some structure. I don't know if the fence will work or what the height will be. This fence needs to be built swiftly. We don't want to have a conversation next year this time, and we are still waiting to see what is going to happen. We can be killed.”

Andre Curtis was in favour of the fence but said the police should be more visible because he had struggled to find any on patrol after seeing three men dragging a car engine down the road at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Diep River police chief Lieutenant Colonel Ansley Jacobs said theft out of vehicles in Southfield had risen from 17 cases from the beginning of April to the end of September last year to 27 cases for the same period this year.

“Last year, Plumstead was a hotspot area for theft out of motor vehicles. That has shifted now to Southfield, and it is probably because we have put a lot of resources into Plumstead, and now there has been a crime displacement.”

Shortages of staff and vehicles were also a problem, he said, noting that Diep River police station should have 84 staff but only had 55, and one patrol vehicle covered a 36km radius across the five suburbs of Plumstead, Southfield, Meadowridge, Constantia and Diep River.

Diep River police station’s visible policing commander Captain Marius Voges said a wall would not stop crime, but it would aid crime fighters.