File picture: Supplied. File picture: Supplied.
Cape Town - With elections looming and political parties making promises to get elected, fears around safety continue to plague voters.
The Western Cape is home to seven of the top 10 stations with the highest murder rates across the country, and has also been labelled the drug capital of South Africa.
And while parties have outlined their plans of action to tackle various issues were they to be voted into power, crime and safety concerns continue to rank highest among voters.
For 55-year-old Nontuthuzelo Patyane, life in Delft means constantly fearing that either she or her family could be killed by criminals, who are slowly taking over her community.
“Hearing gun shots and people getting robbed on their way to work or school is our daily bread here,” she said.
“I work as a domestic worker and have to catch a taxi in the morning and I can’t tell you how many times I have been robbed of my cellphone and taxi fare.
“These boys do not even have shame when they search through the breasts of an old woman for valuables.
“My grandson was on tik before we sent him to the Eastern Cape.
“He broke everything from the house to get drugs, he kept getting arrested and released only to return and harass us.
“Two doors from here, a man was shot dead a few months ago just as he was walking out of the yard.
“It is elections time and these politicians who want us to vote for them, will come and sit in our living rooms and make promises, but we won’t see them again until it’s time to vote again,” Patyane said.
Jessica Beaukman, a 44-year-old mother of three living in Wynberg, said her biggest concern was burglary.
“Whenever I come back from picking up my child from school and I’m waiting at my gate, those few seconds are the longest and most agonising.
“I was almost hijacked while waiting at my gate a few years ago. I was alone and from then, that frightens me the most.
“We have alarm systems and electric fencing and there is always a security company vehicle patrolling the area but there is always the fear that you will find people in your home.
“Fearing your own home is crippling and that is not the way I want to raise my children,” she said.
In their manifesto the EFF promised to open satellite stations that operate around the clock in every ward without police stations.
They want to retrain police officers and detectives to deal with sexual assault cases.
They vowed to employ 100000 new police officers and absorb all reservist security guards.
The want to deploy a special task team to deal with gangsterism and drugs in Cape Town.
The DA says all provinces should take responsibility for policing.
They promised to retrain police officers and ensure high crime areas were prioritised with resources.
The party vowed to increase the budget for crucial policing functions by decreasing the amount allocated to VIP protection, as well as rolling out a police Ombudsman model to the rest of the country, to investigate complaints against poor police services.
The ANC wants to increase the number of police and ensure they are trained to investigate cases.
They called for stricter bail conditions and harsher sentences in combating violence against women and children, and the strengthening of community policing forums and community safety forums.
They promised tough measures against undocumented immigrants involved in crime.
Chairperson of the Nyanga CPF, Martin Makhasi, said the government did little to assist CPFs.
“CPFs nationally are challenged because we are not resourced, the government for the past 25 years has failed to come up with a clear plan about how to support CPFs, our work is hampered because you can’t do your work when you are not resourced.
“For the government, CPFs are a nice thing to have but not a priority.
“If you read different political party manifestos, they talk about strengthening CPFs but they are not telling you how.
“CPFs are not an extension of any party, whether you are green, gold and black, orange or red, therefore whoever is in government must leave them alone and allow them to work with communities and police to reduce crime.
“Communities have lost confidence in the whole criminal justice system, that is why it is easy for someone to get into their car and go to Nyanga and open fire into a group of people in a crowded area, but they know nothing will happen because residents will not co-operate with the system,” Makhasi said.
Milnerton Crime Watch’s Craig Pederson said while the allocation of police resources was important, there were other tangible efforts that could be put in place to help fight crime.
“A wish as a community is certainly more visible policing.
“From the City of Cape Town side, we would like to see a greater presence of municipal police to deal with by-law infractions, such as dumping, noise, unlicensed or unregistered businesses because we get a lot of complaints in the area.
“We would like to see a lot more urban planning input when it comes to crime management, identification of hot spots, insulation of street lighting, the closing of dangerous alleyways that have become mugging hot spots.
“It is voting season and we can get politicians to do things and the first would be more municipal police, it is is achievable, it would go a long way in increasing visibility and reduce street crime,” Pederson said.