NB: FOR EMERGENCIES CONTACT SAPS FIRST ON 021 680 9580/7/8
CONTENTS
Logging Service Requests with The City
Safety & Security
Social (please read the letter from Cllr Christie)
Cleansing
Greening
Ward News
Classifieds
Cape Town City contacts
LOGGING A SERVICE REQUESTS WITH THE CITY
If youwant action from The City then please log a request - there are various ways of doing this:
Download the "My Smart City" App
What is My Smart City?
The citizen's platform that connects you to the service providers in your city.
My Smart City is a platform that empowers you, the citizen, with tools to navigate, learn about and improve your city. Whether you are logging issues that need attention or simply want to gain access to resources and information.
In Cecil Road during the weekend, a sneak thief took car keys from a house
In Long Street during the course of the Mayday weekend, thieves gained entry to a house by breaking a window and stole two cellphone and a tablet
In Elgin Road between 3.30-4-00pm on Wednesday, a sneak thief slipped into a house through an open door and stole two cellphones and some cash
2 ROBBERIES
In Cecil Road at 6.30pm on Sunday, a female pedestrian was robbed of her cellphone by a man who threatened her with a gun; and
On the footbridge at the bus terminus at 9.36pm on Thursday, a male pedestrian was mugged by two men who his cellphone and some clothing
5 CARS BROKEN INTO
Ayres Street during the night Sunday(attempt)
Highfield Road between 6.30-7.30am (tools)
Eike Avenue during the early evening on Saturday (spare wheel and battery)
Gloucester Road during the night on Saturday (side mirror)
Station Road during the night on Saturday (jack, spare wheel and tools)
ARRESTED
Two men in a stolen car in Main Road at 1.00am on Thursday.
Police arrested another man at 6.30pm on Saturday in Main Road after he threatened a shop owner with a knife
MAY 9 - 15
ABDUCTION
In a disturbing new development, a deliveryman was reportedly abducted by a gang of three men while working in Hornsey Road at 12.35pm on Sunday and later freed after his family had paid a ransom
4 ROBBERIES
In Montreal Avenue at 7.30am on Monday, a man with a knife robbed a women pedestrian of cash
In Main Road at 12.20pm on Thursday, two muggers took a women pedestrian’s cellphone
In Main Road at 3.30pm on Friday, a gang of six men strong-armed a cellphone and ID documents from a woman pedestrian
On Albert Road at 5pm on Friday, a man with a gun took a cellphone from a woman pedestrian
2 BURGLARIES
In Klipfontein Road during the right on Friday, a shop was broken into and merchandise, including outdoor goods, bags and watches, was stolen; and
In Liesbeek Road during the night on Friday, clothing was stolen from a house after a break-in
3 MOTOR VEHICLES STOLEN
A BMW taken from Park Road, Rosebank, at about 9pm on Wednesday
A VW Polo taken from Sydney Road between 7.50-10.30pm on Friday
A Vuke Scutta taken from near Red Cross Hospital between 4.00-5.00pm on Sunday
6 CARS BROKEN INTO
Park Road, Rosebank, during the night Monday (personal items taken)
Borden Road during the night on Monday (groceries)
Long Street during the night on Wednesday (spare wheel and CDs)
Bushwood Road during the night on Friday (jumper cables, wheel spanner and gym bag)
Belmont Road during the night on Friday (baby-seat, spare wheel and tool box)
Prieska Road during the night on Sunday (fishing rods and jumper cables)
STOLEN
Another school-bag, contained books, IDs, clothing and cash, has been stolen from the Rhodes High sports field - this time between 5.00-5.30pm on Thursday
ARRESTS
Mowbray police made two more arrests this week for drug possession, on Monday and Wednesday, in Long Street
May 16 – 22
4 BURGLARIES
A woman asleep in her bedroom in a house in Cecil Road was awakened by two intruders at 5.30am on Sunday morning and robbed of three
In Belmont Road during the night on Monday, household appliances were taken after a thief forced open a window
In Rhodes Avenue during the night on Wednesday, clothing and a TV remote were stolen by an intruder
In Bollihope Avenue between 3.00-5.00pm on Saturday, a mini-TV set was stolen by a “visitor”
2 ROBBERIES
In Liesbeek Parkway at 11.15pm on Monday, a woman motorist stopped at the traffic lights had her personal belongings taken by a couple who were armed with a gun
In Milner Road at 11.00pm on Saturday, a man had his cellphone snatched by a man who threatened him with a knife
A service station in Durban Road was bilked at 7.50pm on Saturday by a motorist who drove off without paying after he had had his petrol tank filled
3 VEHICLES STOLEN
Bridge Street during the night on Tuesday (attempt)
Liesbeek Road during the night on Wednesday (a Hyundai Getz)
Loch Road at 3.30pm on Saturday
THREE CARS WERE BROKEN INTO
Marivey Street during the night on Wednesday
Liesbeek Road in the early hours of Thursday morning
Hope Street during the course of the weekend.
ARRESTED
Police arrested two people for possession of drugs in Strubens Street on Saturday.
MAY 23 - 29
2 BURGLARIES
York Road between 7.00-11.00am on Tuesday, an x-box was stolen from an apartment after the door was forced
Golf Course Road, Sybrand Park, during the night on Friday, the glass door of an office was smashed open and thieves made off with an FNB Speedpont and a laptop
BIKE & CAR STOLEN
A mountain bike that had been chained to a pole in Durban Road was stolen during the course of the day on Wednesday
A VW Polo was stolen from Kent Road between 6.00-9.30pm on Thursday
MAY 30 – JUNE 5
ARMED ROBBERY
Armed men have once again raided the convenience store in Raapenberg Road - this time at 6.30pm on Friday - and robbed the shop and customers of laptops, cigarettes and cash
3 OTHER ROBBERIES
In Main Road at 3.30pm on Monday, three men armed with a gun robbed a deliveryman of his cellphone and personal card
In Astley Road at 12.55pm on Wednesday, a male pede3strian was robbed of his lap[top, cellphone and cash by two men armed with a gun
In Osborne Road at 9pm on Thursday, `a man had his cellphone snatched by a gang of men who assaulted him
6 BURGLARIES
In Klaver Road during the night on Monday, groceries were stolen from a house
In Lower York Road at 11pm on Monday, house keys were stolen by a thief who forced open a window
In Klipfotnein Road, thieves who broke into a business premises during Tuesday evening were disturbed by an alarm activation
At Forest Hill students residence in Main Road between 6.45-7-00pm on Wednesday, a laptop was stolen from a room
In Durban Road during the night on Wednesday, cellphones were stolen from a shop
In Main Road during the night on Friday, groceries sere stolen from a shop after a gate was forced open
CABLE THIEVES
Struck in the early hours to Tuesday morning at a house in Klaver Street
2 CARS BROKEN INTO
Liesbeek Road between 7.00-7.20pm on Wednesday (jacket stolen
Balfour Road between 6.00- 11-00pm (radio)
CAR STOLEN
A Honda Getz car was stolen from Muswell Hill Road during the night on Saturday
JUNE 6 - 12
6 BURGLARIES
In Rhodes Avenue during the course off Wednesday (June 1), groceries were taken from the room of student digs
At Moss Hall (?) in Mowbray at 9am on Sunday (June 5) , a woman attending a church service had her cellphone stolen from her handbag
In Sawkins Roadat 1am on Wednesday, thieves who snatched two bicycles were caught in the act and fled leaving behind one of the bikes behind
In Arundel Road, Rosebank, between 3.30-4.40pm, thieves stole a handbag and laptop from an apartment after forcing open the door
In Forth Road during the night on Friday, thieves broke into a storeroom and stole a bicycle, two suitcases and garden tools
In Highbury Road during the night on Saturday, thieves broke through a gate and door and stole a microwave over, two laptops and musical equipment
3 ROBBERIES
At a school in In Monterey Street at 7am on Friday (June 3), a cellphone was snatched from a woman during a fracas
In Roseland Road at 3pm on Wednesday, a male pedestrian had his cellphone taken by a man with a gun
In Thicket Road at 4.30am on Friday, a gang accosted the residents of a house with a screwdriver and robbed them an iPhone, jewellery and cash
GATE MOTORS STOLEN
Muswell Hill Road during the night on Tuesday
Clarendon Road during the day on Tuesday
CABLE THEFT
On the N2 near Liesbeek Parkway during the day on Thursday
5 CARS BROKEN INTO
Christow Road during the night on Tuesday (wheels removed)
Main Road during the night on Monday (clothing and cellphone)
Hornsesy Road during the night on Tuesday (car tools and spare wheel); in Chapel during the day on Saturday (May 21) (laptop)
Upper Durban Road between 5.20-6.20pm (laptop)
1 VEHICLE WAS REPORTED STOLEN
A Honda motorcycle taken from a business premises between 9.00-10-00am on Saturday (June 4)
Jonatan Hobday, chairperson, Mowbray CPF
SOCIAL
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE DOORBELL RINGS?
Invite from Rosebank NHW
Our doorbells are ringing on a daily and hourly basis with people who are or who claim to be in need.Some are homeless residents of our neighbourhood and others are here seeking help. Do you feel overwhelmed and unsure how to respond to this in wise and compassionate ways?
Join us for an interactive workshop called "When the doorbell rings!" FACILITATED BY CAROLINE POWELL OF THE WAREHOUSE. This workshop is intended to help you develop a household response that is integrated into other options available and can contribute to long term wellbeing.
All welcome
Saturday 25 June
9am to 11am
At the Guide Hall, Alma Road, Rosebank.
STREET PEOPLE - PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ THIS
Katherine Christie, Councillor for Ward 58, attended the last Sector 2 meeting and shared the following letter. I don't want to highlighted anything but rather encourage you to read the whole letter.
Dear Neighbours in Ward 58
As you know, the national government decreed that during the State of Disaster, SAPS and Law Enforcement were barred from disbanding squatters’ temporary shelters and moving them on. This encouraged more people to move through to our suburbs, where they felt safe away from gangs and crime in their particular areas. Unfortunately this unusual dispensation also drew people from gangs who could hide among the “homeless” and plan house and car break-ins. The head of SAPS Claremont pointed out at a CPF meeting that “if there were no homeless, there would be virtually no crime”. I myself met members of prison gangs (26, 27 and 28) among the homeless groups on the railway line, and was treated to a viewing of their tattoos.
The City of Cape Town is extraordinary in that we employ dedicated staff within the Street People Team whose goal is to restore the dignity and purpose of people living on our streets. Field officers identify people on the streets and engage with them, and reintegration officers work to bring them back into society and community. They work tirelessly among these people to:
help and empower them to move off the streets into shelters,
reunite them with their families and communities, or
refer them to inpatient rehabilitation facilities.
Referrals for Health and other Departments
The Street People Team have also developed programmes to work with our “homeless” to build their sense of dignity; according to the staff for Area South, they are often lost and “don’t know who they are.”
The programmes address questions like
“Who am I?”;
Gender-based violence;
Life skills such as goal setting and boundaries;
Communication
Conflict management and
Substance abuse
I am in awe of the work the Street People team does, as I have walked through our suburbs with them and seen first-hand their gentleness, compassion, respect and sensitivity towards these marginalised people, and witnessed too the respect that people on our streets have for them. There is a level of trust that has grown due to the staff refusing ever to be present when law enforcement officers approach the people.
The Street People team also attends church “soup kitchens” where they can to connect with the twenty to thirty people who come for food and offer them services. You will read later why I lean towards discouraging these kinds of soup kitchens.
I believe that we would all agree that living on the streets is not an ideal lifestyle for anyone; the lack of ablution facilities and vulnerability to crime, the cold and the rain and the general indignity of it all would never be a healthy person’s first choice. Men who have been empowered by UTurn have told me that in their restored condition, they would never choose the streets. However, many of the “homeless” have mental health problems and substance abuse issues. There is also a desire for freedom and lack of accountability; living in any community, be it a shelter, a rehabilitation centre, an informal settlement with services provided by the City, or a suburb, requires cooperation with the community’s leaders and the rules that the community decides on.
Why are people living on the streets of Claremont, Rondebosch and Kenilworth? I hear that our suburbs are known as “the big apple” because of the “rich pickings” available. With the kindest and noblest of intentions, we provide soup kitchens and give food, cash, clothes, tents and household items to people living rough, and that is what attracts them to our particular streets. We also put unwanted kitchen appliances, clothes and recycling waste in our bins; hence the scratching in our bins on waste collection day.
I myself am searching my heart to ask myself why I want to give cash to beggars and car guards who evidently are not formally employed to watch my car. Is it guilt over our country’s past? Is it to satisfy my conscience quickly so that I can forget about their plight? How will my giving cash and other goods to them help them in the long term? Having listened to and learned from the Street People team, I have concluded that by giving handouts directly to the people on our streets, I am actually doing more harm than good. I am enabling their substance abuse habits and financing their next drink or drug fix. I am making it possible and easier to stay outside rather than to accept the hand-up offered by the City and organisations like UTurn.
That is how I have come to a decision never to give cash or any item to people on the streets. I will instead give financially to the City’s “Give Dignity” programme, the Haven, Oasis and YMCA, and buy the vouchers that UTurn sells at local shops which provide food and set them on the road to recovery. I want to invite you to do the same, for the sake of the homeless beggar, and for the sake of your neighbourhood.
“What is out there for them?” You may ask, when considering where and how to give. I encourage you to do research on the organisations listed above, and I will let you know what our City is doing.
The City provides three “safe spaces” and several shelters which it funded by Provincial Social Development.
There are three designated “safe spaces”:
“Paint City” in Bellville
“Culemberg 2” with prefab shelters and
“Culemberg 1” – both areas under the motorway in the City of Cape Town.
For the formal City shelters, non-profit organisations are selected through the City’s tender process, to do the day-to-day running, and the operational expenses are funded by the City. All other non-profit shelters are funded by the Western Cape Provincial Government.
The Mayor has allocated an extra R10 million of the budget to shelters and safe spaces run by both Cape Town and by non-profit organisations, in preparation for winter. This funding will supply the shelters with more beds and mattresses, food and toiletry packs. The City will fund more Expanded Public Work Programme (EPWP) job opportunities so that people can be employed to cook, clean and help at these centres.
Another R10 million has been allocated by the City for additional safe spaces, and the planning office is still deciding where these will be. There is no safe space in “Central” or “South”, where we fit.
What makes the City’s safe spaces very beneficial to guests is the therapy and development work that is offered. There are:
Outpatient rehabilitation programmes;
Social workers on duty;
Clear rules and boundaries which protect guests from abuse by one another. The boundaries include times by which people need to arrive for the night, and no alcohol or drugs being permitted on site.
The safe spaces are manned by 24/7 security, who check the perimeter and guard the entrance gates.
To prevent gender-based violence (GBV), men and women sleep separately.
I did ask why there is not more accommodation for couples, as the Retreat Haven Shelter is the only facility offering rooms for couples. A social worker explained to me that when this was provided, there was a large amount of GBV, male to female and even female to male. Fights would also break out when one spouse left for someone else’s spouse.
What now?
Now that the State of Disaster for Covid-19 is over, the City is proceeding with thousands of eviction orders to go through our courts, to move squatters away from our streets and public open spaces. The Mayor is prioritising “Area North” where we have the most tents and people living on the streets: this is the City and Atlantic Seaboard areas. Our ward (Kenilworth, Claremont and Rondebosch) falls under “Area South” and “Area Central”.
Teams are classifying further “hot-spot areas” to be prioritised based on both the number of tents and people, and the number of complaints about “vagrants” through the 107 phone number or C3 online requests logged.
Our Social Worker “Field Officers” visit each person on the streets and offer them accommodation up to six times, before they refer a settlement to Law Enforcement.
I want to encourage you to log as many C3 requests and make as many 107 calls regarding people living on your streets, as possible, in order for our suburbs to be prioritised.
Please know that every person living on our streets is being offered alternative accommodation, again and again, by the City’s Street People team; I have witnessed this myself. Only if a person has been offered accommodation and has rejected it more than 6 times, may Law Enforcement proceed with an eviction. And Law Enforcement has to do this legally, with a court order.
Thank you for working with me to make our streets and neighbourhoods safer, by cooperating with the advice I have given above. I ask you not to give cash and handouts to those living on our streets, but rather to give generously to the “Give Dignity” programme and the non-profit organisations working in our community. I encourage you to volunteer too, to see first-hand the wonderful and restorative work that is being done by these NPOs. I have seen how we can work together as a community, and am enjoying getting to know you and your civic-based organisation leaders. Your kindness and dedication to others’ well-being has given me so much hope for our suburbs, for Cape Town and for South Africa.
Warmest regards
Katherine Christie
Ward Councillor
Ward 58
CLEANSING
It's that time of the year for leaves, leaves and more leaves.....
If anybody would like some to make mulch or compost the let us know how many bags you would like and your address and when the LMRID/Straatwerk team is next in you area they will drop off at your gate
FROM A RESIDENT
On Mondays I am always up very early putting bins out at Pillans Court & a few things that need attention in the Cross Road/Lower Pillans/Smith Road/Liesbeek Road/Liesbeek Parkway block:
Could a general reminder be sent out to residents to please clean in front of their houses (including litter in gutters) on bin day? I think that some people are under the impression that LMRID has a cleaning team out every day to do this. A small thing - but if everyone does their small bit, it makes a huge difference and done regularly takes only a few minutes.
Thank you
GREENING
COMMUNITREE
AND THE
SPEK PLEK STEPPING STONE GARDEN
See the link below for more on the wonderful work being done creating gardens at the entrance to Little Mowbray
Subcouncil 16 has R1million, capital or operating funds, available per ward for ward allocation projects in the 2023/24 financial year. The process has started to identify ward projects in consultation with the public, ward committee members, officials and councillors.
You are invited to submit proposals in this regard for the Subcouncil 16 area, indicating the following:
1. Project description
2. Project scope (details as to the envisaged project)
3. Area and ward
4. Cost estimate
5. Project manager
WARD ALLOCATIONS PROPOSALS CRITERIA 2023/24
1.Comply with Council policy
2.Be on Council land and /or a Council facility
3.Be able to be completed by the end of June 2023
4.Be subject to technical evaluation
5.Once completed, should not result in future additional operational or maintenance costs by Council
6.Add value to the immediate environment
Should you enquire any additional information / guidance in the above regard, you are welcome to contact
