Feeling safe in Saxonwold
Eight years ago, a group of 12 armed robbers held Chris Lenferna and his family hostage for seven hours. That year, he remembers, there were more than 100 “Sunday home invasions” in Saxonwold.
Now, like many of the residents of the leafy, upmarket suburb, which President Jacob Zuma and the Guptas call home, Lenferna and his family feel safe in their fortified homes.
“These kind of crimes just don’t happen here anymore,” he remarks.
And it’s not just because of their high walls, protective beams and indoor alarms – it’s the private security companies who proactively patrol the suburb and the vigilant community who now live in it.
Like last year’s crime statistics, this year’s show that Saxonwold ranks as among the safest places to live in Joburg. The suburb, Lenferna said, recorded just four incidents of contact crimes in the past year and not a single murder.
Lenfer na’s housebreaking happened during a dark period for the area when there were more than 1 000 incidents of contact and property crimes, and it spurred him to get involved in the Saxonwold Community Active Protection (CAP), a crime-fighting network, which draws in several neighbouring suburbs.
The initiative has slashed crime by more than 80 percent. Residents describe it as an unparalleled, resounding success “granted with a lot of resources”. “Most crimes that happen here are soft crimes,” he said. But it doesn’t come cheap. “The initiative costs residents R300 000 a month. We work closely with police.”
Another Saxonwold resident, Chris de Klerk, agrees. “We’re very happy with the scheme. At first, we were worried – it was expensive… but everyone is still paying. Everyone is seeing the value of it.
“We have a good team in place. The reputation has spread. People know the area is well-monitored and residents look out for each other. We’re not easy targets. It’s a difficult area because it sits between Jan Smuts [Avenue] and Oxford [Road], which is a busy thoroughfare. But the kind of crimes we’re seeing, the trend is incidental.
“There’s no question of how much safer we feel. We moved in prior to CAP and there was a sense that the whole area north of Joburg was under threat. Now our kids can go for walks and we can take the dogs out.”
Saturday Star
Posted at 06:46AM Sep 25, 2012
by Editor in Johannesburg |
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