Early this month, community leaders organised a public meeting at the sports ground, to talk about the recent spike in crime in the area and ways to address it.
During the meeting, community members resolved to form a group of community patrollers to deal with the on-going fatal shootings, robberies and sexual assaults, which has left many residents of the area constantly fearing for their lives.
Still no sign of abducted, gang–raped and possibly murdered girl
According to one of the community patrollers, Thomas Sibuyi, a group of patrollers was formed during the meeting and started out by proactively patrolling the crime-ridden neighbourhood in search of any type of criminal activity at night.
The group started with only 35 members but has grown to 63 fed-up residents, who now patrol the settlement and the businesses along Main Reef Road, opposite the informal settlement.
“This is aimed at assisting the police in the fight against crime, and to keep the residents of Angelo safe from the hands of opportunistic criminals,” Sibuyi said.
“There’s only so much the police can do. As community members we have to step in and do our part, because these criminals are endangering our lives.
“Though it is mostly unlikely that we will refrain from responding to any community member’s call for help if they are being attacked by criminals, our key responsibility is to be extra eyes and ears for the police.
“We are keeping an eye on things. If we see anything suspicious going on, we immediately report it to the police. We sometimes conduct citizens arrests, depending on the situation.”
Sibuyi added that the patrollers have a strong working partnership with the police and receive support from local business people, who sponsor the community initiative. -@FanieFLK
Search continues for abducted, gang–raped girl
