Current Edition >> Archives Section >> Leading Stories >> 16-30 June 2005

Crime rampant in heart of heartland

On the photo, Ms Martie Viljoen, pensioner residing in a block of flats in Park Road, Bloemfontein, at the entrance of the block where she has been attacked and robbed twice the past week.
Reading and listening to the daily media, the past two weeks in particular, the upsurge in crime in the heart of Bloemfontein, especially the Willows area and in and around Park Road and At Horak Street, is simply shocking.
Consider for instance the person hijacked and robbed at the robot opposite Old Greys Club; a number of cars broken into and the locks of garages broken at flats in Park Road, a woman employee of a convenience store attacked and robbed of her handbag; a man and a lady attacked at night in front of a block of flats in Park Road when returning home, with the man seriously wounded with a knife; three men attacked and hijacked in the parking lot of Old Grey’s Club; two young men robbing a waitress of her handbag in front of Galaxy Pub in Willows; and so the list goes on.
Superintendent Dennis of the SAPS told the Free State Business Bulletin that the SAPS cannot assist in identifying whether the Willows area has become a crime hot spot as some of the events reported in the media has not been recorded at the SAPS.
The Free State Business Bulletin then approached Capt Elsa Gerber who responded that there is still a moratorium on crime stats and that only the national office may release such information, given it has been reported. The victims on the other hand, claim that they have reported the cases, but are still awaiting SAPS response and they even showed the Free State Business Bulletin their SAPS case numbers.
Add to the list the family attacked and robbed in broad daylight at Loch Logan, the university professor hi-jacked and bundled into the boot of his car at College Square, two students attacked with repellant spray at McDonalds in Zastron Street, etc., then the gravity of the situation is even more evident.
It is ironic that the area of crime is adjacent to the main Police Station in the capital city and province, viz Park Road Police Station.
According to figures published by the ACDP Free State, about 1 000 murders, 4 000 cases of reported rape, more than a 1 000 cases of grievous bodily harm, more than 25 000 cases of common assault, more than 4 500 cases of robbery with aggravating circumstances and nearly 5 000 cases of robbery occur per annum in the Free State.
Meanwhile, the ongoing strike by employees in the security industry is also having its effects, one of which is that there is a discernable shift from manually-operated security services to various forms of electronic security. Of the latter, some services are being offered on this page.