Rampant crime plagues Table View

• Published date: 20 April 2024
• Author: Genevieve Serra
• Publication title: Weekend Argus

As the suburbs are encroached by high-density developments and informal settlements, the areas have become the top police precincts for crime

This week, the Community Police Forum, together with the station commander Colonel Tjikamba Markus Mbangu, met with anxious residents as crime continued to spiral out of control, calling for more resources from police, City and Law Enforcement.

The meeting followed a litany of crimes in a short period, which include a murder and attempted murder during a home invasion, the death of a female nurse, a woman stabbed 20 times by robbers, a romance scam ring leader being nabbed and a string of robberies.

Table View resident Philippe Roche said he had contacted the City, Law Enforcement and the offices of Mayco member for community safety, JP Smith, to bring calm to the streets.

“We need urgent support and assistance as the situation is growing out of control,” Roche wrote to City officials.

“The events coincide 100% with the growth in numbers of the criminals on street corners claiming to be job-seekers.

“We have had an exponential rise in attempted or successful house invasions, robberies and attempted murder in Table View in the last few weeks,” he said.

Karen Davis, chairperson of the Greater Table View Action Forum, said they were calling for more police visibility. “Over the last two weeks, there seems to have been a huge escalation in crime in our suburb.

“There was a housebreaking in Parklands that resulted in a woman’s death which apparently has led back to her domestic worker, and the suspects have been arrested. But from then on, there have been almost daily house break-ins, wall jumpers, etc.”

Former Table View ward councillor Joy Solomon confirmed she had resigned as of March 31, but had previously indicated the region had seen an increase in crime and called on “so-called job-seekers” to be watched as they could be potentially linked to crimes such as robberies.

“We suspect they could be observers, and this has been raised with the CPF,” Solomon said. “There have been smash-and-grab incidents and people’s cellphones being taken.”

Phindile Maxiti, PR councillor for the ward, said they were engaging with stakeholders and residents to ensure that residents’ concerns were escalated.

“I am meeting with the portfolio committee and we have received complaints, and at our subcouncil meeting on Thursday, we agreed to go out with the relevant departments to show them the challenges and call for interventions.

“I...