It’s been a little over two months since Cameron Aberdeen, owner of Cerberus Tactical Security, shot and killed Waleed Abrahams, a Bo-Kaap resident.
Since that incident, there have been no private security officers patrolling the streets, and Bo-Kaap resident Megan Kassiem, who also set up the private security project, says she has noticed unknown faces in the tourist district.
“Crime has definitely increased since there no longer is private security. We had house break-ins, cars being stolen and lots of petty crimes in the area. I have been feeling very helpless as lots of the residents have still been reaching out when incidents have been happening, I always advise them to call SAPS,” said Ms Kassiem.
However, Osman Shaboodien, chairman of the Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayers’ Association, claims that crime has decreased in the absence of private security patrols.
“Since the absence of private security patrols in Bo-kaap serious crimes have subsided due to police and law enforcement intervention. Nevertheless, crime opportunism exists which feeds off goods left in parked vehicles, unguided tourists, influx of free parkers and drug buyers of the party goers in the CBD and house breaking in. We call on the police and law enforcement to continue their vigilance and arrest those committing the crimes. We call on the community to be extra vigilant and to support local initiatives by the BKNW and others to keep Bo-Kaap safe,” Mr Shaboodien said.
The Bo-Kaap Neighbourhood Watch (BKNW) has 12 patrollers including one woman, and according to the BKNW chairman Ebrahim Christians, residents are reluctant to join their late night duty.
“We do have the odd person joining us for patrol, should we have more volunteers than we can spread the hours amongst the patrollers to prevent burn out of the patrollers. We patrol during the week but not as long as we patrol over weekends, weekends we patrol from 10pm till about 3.30am and we do sign in with SAPS,” said Mr Christians.
He adds that tourists are frequently robbed or pick-pocketed in Rose and Chiappini streets.
“The problems in the area are cellphone and electronic equipment like camera theft, bag snatching which is mostly from tourists. We do have house breaking and car break ins, also we had on occasions car theft. The Kraal and the Van Der Meulen Street informal settlement is where they hide out, some of the criminals don’t live in Bo-Kaap but they use these as a quick thoroughfare when they commit a crime,” he said.
Mr Christians said they receive financing from the Western Cape Department of Community Safety (DOCS), but that it only covers the essentials of patrol as patrollers are not paid.
“We log our complaints through to Watchcom and they will request assistance from SAPS and Law Enforcement, yes we do get assistance from them sometimes it can be a lengthy wait. The exact stats from reported cases at SAPS will show how at risk Bo-Kaap is, no crime reported is no crime that happened,” he said.
He said any resident is free to join BKNW but will have to go through the police clearance process.
“We caught a man, in his 20’s, on the corner of Shortmarket and Chiappini streets on Sunday morning, he was making his way to the Kraal. He had pick-pocketed someone in town and we found two cellphones on him, Metro Police were on the scene in 10 minutes and the victim made a case at SAPS,” he said.
Wayne Dyason, spokesperson for Law Enforcement, said they are having regular engagements regarding safety in the Bo-Kaap.
“The City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement Tourism Unit deploys members daily to the Bo-Kaap area. We have regular sector meetings for Bo-Kaap where various role-players are represented such as the hospitality industry, Bo-Kaap Civic Association and the Bo-Kaap Neighbourhood Watch. These meetings offer a platform for all crime-related issues to be addressed,” said Mr Dyason.
At the time of going to print there was no response from SAPS.
