Tygerhof residents say that burglaries in their community are on the rise and they are not getting enough assistance from Milnerton SAPS.
There has been a string of burglaries in Tygerhof and police have done little to deal with the issue, say residents.
Resident Tracy Ewer contacted Tabletalk to say she knew of at least six burglaries in her neighbourhood in the past two weeks.
Ms Ewer said residents were “living in fear” and felt like SAPS was not doing much to make them feel safe.
“I feel like we are being targeted by criminals in our own area. It just isn’t safe here at all anymore. When I moved here with my family from Joburg, yes, there were issues just like any other community, but it felt rather safe. The neighbours looked out for one another, we would see police patrols often, and we didn’t have these same fears. Now it’s like we are just thrown to the wolves. It doesn’t seem like the police care about us anymore. Nowhere in the country is safe - I admit that. However, we cannot be living in constant fear,” she said.
Andrew and Roelien MacLeod moved to Tygerhof just three months ago from East London in the Eastern Cape. They said their Glanville Road house had been burgled on Friday July 21.
“At 8pm last Friday, my wife and I went to the shop. We had gone for only 15 minutes, and when we came back, our place had been broken into. We could see it was forced entry. They took our two TVs, four cellphones, two smart watches, jewellery, bedding, kettle and hard drive,” said Mr MacLeod.
“They also took our laptop and microwave, which were both brand new. It gets very busy here in this road with lots of cars coming in and out on a daily basis. We don’t feel safe at all. We want out of this area. Things are bad, and it seems no one is doing anything.”
Another resident, Duncan Barr, said he had had a break-in a few months ago but had given up trying to open a case at Milnerton SAPS.
“Not a lot was taken from my home. I was missing a cellphone and a money jar, where I keep loose change. These criminals broke in using the side-door entrance, which leads to the kitchen. I think they were startled by my dog because they took things that were right there near the door. But when I went to open a case, I waited in a long line for assistance, and the officer that helped wasn’t sympathetic to my issue. I just turned without opening that case. It was a nightmare at the station,” said Mr Barr.
Tabletalk asked Milnerton SAPS to comment on specific burglary cases, provide statistics on burglaries in Tygerhof and respond to allegations about difficulty opening cases, but Milnerton SAPS spokeswoman Captain Nopaya Madyibi sent only this brief response by email: “Yes, we can confirm there are incidents that were reported at Milnerton police station. These incidents happen mostly during load shedding. The safety of our community is our concern. There are visible patrols with the assistance of police partners.”