Pretoria - Residents of Salvokop have called for intensified policing to shake down criminals who threaten their lives and peace of mind following a fatal shooting last weekend.
The small community, which has a special history as it sits at the foot of the Freedom Park national heritage site and had in its midst the Statistics SA building, has been the victim of robberies and other crimes that often go unreported, leaving residents with a “loss of confidence in the police”.
But they have said, “enough is enough”. The community is home to an informal settlement known as Baghdad, where a woman and a man were shot. It left the man dead and the woman fighting for her life.
Residents said crime happened in and outside the informal settlement of Salvokop, but people were often afraid to tell law enforcement officers what they had seen out of fear of being attacked.
They said the community had become notorious for robberies, leaving people afraid to walk at night, even when they had to go to work or when they returned late from work.
Salvokop resident and inner city community policing forum member, Steven Swartz, said their community was small but overcrowded, probably enabling some criminals to masquerade as people in need of a place to live.
He said the recent shooting was one of many in the informal settlement. According to reports, the bullet was actually meant for the woman, but the man was also shot and died.
He called on police and community policing forums and residents to come together to bring crime in the informal settlement, and Salvokop in general, to a stop as innocent people were dying.
During a visit to Baghdad on Saturday, people were unwilling to talk. However, one who spoke, Brian Nkosi, said: “A big problem here is that there are a lot of illegal immigrants; some people are not known.
“These crimes should not be happening here considering that we are near very important government institutions like the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services Centre, Stats SA, and Freedom Park, but criminals strike at night. We want the police to shake this place down and return it to its glory days.”
Pretoria Central police spokesperson Captain Augustinah Selepe said the police had sector vehicles patrolling the area daily and they also had a good relationship with the community policing forum. “The murder and attempted murder investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information should contact Pretoria Central on 012 353 4233.”
Pretoria News