Vagrants terrorising Gatesville residents

GATESVILLE residents have threatened to take matters into their own hands after what they say is constant terrorising by an expanding number of vagrants and illegal dwellers in the area.

Gatesville Neighbourhood Watch chairperson Fowzia Veerasamy said some of the group were illegal car guards and washers by day, and illegal dwellers at night. She said Azalea Court residents had been taunted by this group of illegal rooftop dwellers for years. She said reports to Social Housing were constantly referred to law enforcement and vice versa.

“In a recent community meeting concerns were raised about how vagrancy had increased exponentially to a severe health and safety hazard where dumping, the persecution of residents, stolen drain covers and scrapyards are increasing. This is also exacerbated by the lack of law enforcement officers when these people constantly violate curfews and protocols and do not get reprimanded, putting our lives at risk. No one wants to assist or understand our plight and numerous complaints are closed without being attended to,” she said.

Resident Mateen Paleker said a huge fire had been started on Monday night by vagrants burning plastic at the Hazel Road Open Space Park. “The fire was so bad it almost engulfed Mainline Civil Works, where there is a lot of flammable fluid they use for cleaning drains. Things could have been really bad if it were not for the efficient response of the Fire Department. No policing is ever done around the park and the community has to police the area. It’s not fair on us, as there are times we cannot sleep because of the stress of people potentially breaking in, or other crime, as a result of the park being open which makes for an easy escape,” said Paleker.

Mayoral member for Community Service and Health, Zahid Badroodien, said the Street People team had offered social assistance on numerous occasions to the people living on the street and those living at Azalea Court and in the Vlei, but they refused to be placed at a shelter or safe space, or to be reunified with family or referred to rehabilitation services.

“In the past financial year we had a team of fieldworkers in this area daily offering assistance to these clients, but they did not accept,” said Badroodien. Little Street was one of the hot spots, and the team had engaged the clients on a regular basis. However substance abuse was also a challenge as most clients were abusing alcohol or drugs, but refused assistance for rehabilitation.