OH WATCH

Dear Good Resident of Oranjezicht and Higgovale

Not good news this time.

Unfortunately, the run up to Christmas usually sees an upswing in crime. This year is no exception. In the last week, our area has been badly hit, by more than one grouping of criminals being active.

Cat burglars have struck again, this time in Marmion Road. Entering the house in the small hours through an open window, four laptops were stolen without the residents waking up. Very similar to the incident in Glencoe Road a couple of weeks ago. The lesson from this is to ensure that your sliding doors and windows are not left open or unlocked, even if your property has a high wall. These criminals are obviously extremely professional, and brazen in their efforts. Given that they have been successful, it is likely that they will be back in the area before long.

There was also an incident in Garfield Road, at about 6.30 pm on Wednesday evening, when it was still light. The gate and front door of the house were broken into, to gain access. Neighbours saw a Bravo male sitting in a Mercedes Benz outside the house with the engine running, but thought nothing of it, as he looked respectable, and the car was relatively new. Don’t make the same mistake. If you see anything suspicious, call the police or security providers. Better still, use our radio network to alert everybody, including security providers, of suspicious behaviour.

There was also a break in at Glencoe Road last night.

Unfortunately, SAPS have not been very visible of late, due to a very inefficient vehicle maintenance system, resulting in many vehicles being unavailable for weeks. Although SAPS have undertaken to always have two vehicles in our sector, this almost never happens. This is obviously viewed in a very serious light by all role players, and discussions are under way with SAPS in an attempt to address the problem. We feel that the lack of visibility of security providers is contributing significantly to our upswing in crime.

We would encourage those of you without a radio, to seriously consider buying one. Having a radio in your car means that you can call in any suspicious activity as it happens. Any drive in the area effectively becomes a security patrol.

In summary, we have incidents happening during both night time and day time, on weekends, and during the week. Both opportunistic and professional. Be on the look out at all times for suspicious behaviour. In particular, keep a look out for a white bakkie in the area at night, as this vehicle has been associated with the robbery that took place in Glen Avenue.

And lastly, encourage neighbours who have not yet registered with OH Watch, to visit our web site and register. There are at least 500 households who have yet to register. This means that these households are often unaware of crime trends, and are more vulnerable to criminal activity. Only by standing together as a united community will we rid our area of crime.

Funds
We have yet to achieve the aim of collecting our funding needs in a fair and equal way amongst residents. Some residents have been extremely generous, and we are very thankful, while others have yet to contribute the R200 per annum we ask for. If we are to continue our efforts at maintaining and improving our neighbourhood, we need money to achieve this. There is still a lot we would like to do, for the benefit of all, but unfortunately we are not in a position to afford all the projects we have on the drawing board. We need your financial assistance. To pay your subscription, use the banking details shown below.

Our banking details are:

Bank: First National Bank
Branch: Gardens
Branch code: 201511
Account number: 62212483680
Name of account: OH Watch
Ref: Surname and Subs

Stay safe

Your OH Watch Exco