Stone-throwing, unemployment, lack of services, cable theft and safety and security were some of the concerns raised by about 100 Bokmakierie residents at a public meeting last week.
Representatives from neighbourhood watches and community police forums were among those at the meeting, held at Bokmakierie Primary School, on Wednesday evening August 2.
Resident Michael Jurd said residents wanted an umbrella body that represented all sports bodies, neighbourhood watches and CPFs in the area.
“We must let the councillor know if issues need to be addressed otherwise he won’t know. There isn’t a drone flying over our area. Money is being wasted on cleaning the canal every time where it can be used on something else, but our own people keep dumping in the canal. If we don’t talk, he won’t know what is going on. Our asbestos roofs are killing us; something needs to be done. We also have issues with stone-throwing on our roofs,” he said.
Another resident, Dale Toban, said: “The community must stand up and report crime and not keep quiet. Many people know who the cable thieves are but don’t report it.”
Carol Daniels said: “Unemployment is very high in our community, people need jobs. Children steal to put bread on the table. They might not want to steal but have to do it.“
Marwaan Fernandez said the netball field should be upgraded so children could play sport and keep busy. There was poor service delivery in the area, he added.
“I am tired of walking up and down to the councillor’s office. Our problems are never sorted out. Our children fight every day because they have nothing to do. Parents are too old to change their ways and kids are too young to understand why they must change their ways. This has been coming on for the last 20 years. We are speaking the same thing. Our community is being dragged down by a few individuals, but we need intervention. We have the tools, but we need intervention. Our children are standing on corners smoking all sorts of things, but no one does anything.“
Ward councillor Rashid Adams said he knew Bokmakierie had power cuts on top of load shedding, but it was unsafe for City technicians to visit to the neighbourhood at night so residents often had to wait until the following day to have the problems fixed.
“I have to thank community members for reporting issues when they happen. I encourage residents to report issues in the community through the correct channels, and you must give your correct address and contact details,“ he said.
“The lights being off is not causing the crime – it’s the people themselves that take advantage of the darkness. People need to change their mindset. Many women in the community are taking on roles of mom and dad and are stressed out. Moms also need a break so they do often send their children outside to the shop, but often it is not safe. We urge residents to report crimes that you see and know of.”
To deal with ongoing cable theft, it was necessary to report the thieves and confront those buying the stolen cables, he said.
“Tell us if you know of someone and it will be kept confidential. We need to start taking responsibility and look after our communities.
“There is a certain budget allocated for each different department, but repairs and maintenance exceed the budget so new projects must stop to use that money for repairs.
“I know that unemployment is high in South Africa, but unfortunately in Ward 49 there isn’t a basket to give work to people. That’s why we have the expanded public works programme database. We extract names from there. People are often demotivated to look for jobs. We need to stand together and work together. If we don’t unite, it won’t work. Children need good role models,” he said.