Cape Town - The Lansdowne homeless community living next to the train station, which is still reeling from shock over the fatal shooting of two men, has appealed for more patrols by the neighbourhood watch.
The community fears drug-related crimes and gangsterism was filtering through from Hanover Park and increasing safety concerns not only in that vicinity but also in the community.
Last week, two men were killed while a third one sustained serious gun injuries after perpetrators on bicycles opened fire on them while they were sitting on a bench by the railway line and fled on their bicycles.
David, whose brother William Fries was shot said his brother was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He said William was a man with a big heart and would help homeless people with food and other necessities.
Fries said police must put an end to gang violence and must be quick to respond to incidents like these. He said the community needed more police visibility.
Lansdowne CPF chairperson Rafique Foflonker said the community shared the same crime concerns with the homeless community.
Foflonker said there were criminal elements that frequent the area and were a danger to the homeless people and the community.
However, Foflonker said the homeless community also needed to play a role in discouraging criminality in the vicinity, by discouraging among other things, drug and alcohol abuse and the sale of second hand goods without licensing.
He said this created an environment that attracted criminal elements.
“The homeless people in that area have more knowledge and are more intimate with who those criminal elements are.
“It would benefit them also if they were to come forward, in full confidence anonymously, to work with the police, and CPF to identify when these criminal elements are present.
“We are concerned about them and we do look out for them.
“We do patrols, with our neighbourhood watch who chase away the unsavoury characteristics,” he said.
Ward councillor Mark Kleinschmidt who condemned all criminality and especially the loss of life said crime had spiked throughout the country.
Kleinschmidt said the community policing forum with the police and the City’s law enforcement and metro police agencies were active in the community.
Kleinschmidt said he was working with the City’s social services, solid waste, and law enforcement to reduce all forms of crime in the area.