NEWS 7
PEOPLE'S POST | ATHLONE Thursday, 10 April 2014
LINCOLN ESTATE: VAGRANTS BLAMED FOR CRIME SPURT
Business burglaries on the increase TARRENLEE HABELGAARN @LeeLaVidaLoca
V
agrants are being fingered for a spate of business burglaries in Lincoln Estate. Shop owners say they are forced to find their way through a maze of sleeping people on their doorsteps every morning, and are demanding that the City of Cape Town’s Displaced People’s Unit step in and help the homeless get off the street. Lansdowne police spokesperson Sergeant Nkululeko Mnyaka confirms the station frequently receives complaints from business owners asking them to assist with the removal of suspicious characters sleeping in front of their premises after dark. “While vagrancy is not a policing issue, the increase of business robberies in and around Mountview is,” he says. “Regular patrols around hotspots such as Bellmore Avenue and Repulse Road are being focused on to discourage opportunists.” While not all of the vagrants who crawl under their covers in front of the shops are criminals, Lansdowne Community Policing Forum chairperson Thetha Sithole says there is a “definite link” between vagrancy and business robberies. “These opportunistic crimes take place in the early hours of the morning,” he says. “Most of the individuals sleeping in front of the stores are gone in the morning and none are seen during the day.” Lincoln Estate Neighbourhood Watch spokesperson Fred Norman says some of their community crime fighters refuse to patrol this area as they believe the businesses should invest in their own security to eradicate the problem. Norman, who is also the chairperson of the local civic association, says residents are appealing to provide alternative accommodation or social development intervention to alleviate vagrancy and loitering in the neighbourhood.
“Removing them while sleeping in front of the store is only a temporary solution. We need to get them off the street and provide them with work for it to be a long term solution,” he says. Business owner Rashied Amien says he is fed up of “having to clean up after someone else”. “Even if the people sleeping in front of the store is gone in the morning I still have to clean up the papers, dirt and faeces left in front of my store. It is not inviting for customers to enter. There is such a mess and my doorstep reeks of urine,” he says. “I have compassion for people’s circumstances, but I am a business owner and my store provides for my family. If business isn’t good, I don’t have enough money to pay the bills.” A businessman, who does not want to be identified, says he has forked out R3 000 since the beginning of the year to increase security at his store. “I had to add burglar bars and fix my alarm to make sure my property is secure. I have had two break-ins this year already and although they didn’t get away with much, I had to replace windows. It all costs money,” he says. “I think the vagrancy has played a role in the number of break-ins. Even if it is not just them who are committing the crimes, their presence is inviting elements into the area. It is also a safety risk for them because they can also be targeted.” He says two homeless people whom he knows were recently beaten and robbed. “The thieves who are hiding among them don’t care if you are rich or homeless. If you have something they can pawn you will be robbed.” Mayco member for Social Development Suzette Little advises the business owners to lodge a formal complaint with council. “I will then get Law Enforcement to remove them and refer them to shelters,” she says.