Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. John F. Kennedy

 Important notices

1.      “Your safety” meeting

 Date: Tuesday 19 February 2008-02-13           

Time: 18:00           

Venue: Craighall Primary School, Grosvenor Avenue, Craighall Park 

·         You’ll be updated on key activities and priorities by Richard King. A senior official from ADT, Mike Kidson, will give us feedback about current crime levels and other information. ADT and SAS will be on hand to answer specific questions.                       

·         More on Domestic Watch, the Community Security Scheme and another simple yet effective plan to help fight crime – the “My house, my street, my suburb” project. Also, don’t forget that we still need volunteers for the SAPS/residents street patrols.

This reality of crime reinforces the need for vigilance,,teamwork and active participation in whatever programmes are on offer, no matter how small they are. An excerpt from an open letter from a Hurlingham resident, a recent victim of an armed robbery, follows at the end of this newsletter. We’ve included this not to alarm or depress you but rather for you to ask yourselves – is there more that you can do? If you’re inspired by J F Kennedy’s words above, read an article by a human behavioural specialist on dealing with challenges – it’s on the web site -  www.cra.org.za/news_page.htm. 

For more information on matters pertaining to security, contact:

•          Philip Bond -  philip.b@bondstationers.co.za

•          Eric Glover -  ericglover@wbs.co.za

•          Richard King - richard.king@za.bp.com

•          Mike Wilmot - MichaelW@boe.co.za  

2.      Domestic watch

The good news is, because of Craigpark’s support for the first meeting, Penny Steyn has agreed to us having our own Domestic Watch sessions closer to home.  So, from February, Craighall Park / Craighall Domestic Watch meetings will be held at the Wesleyan Church, corner Beaufort and Norfolk Avenues in Craighall Park. 

Over the 11 meetings throughout the year, Penny Steyn makes the following undertaking: “As long as crime is crippling our lives I make a complete commitment to our community and our domestics that I will continue to teach crime prevention and how to become an informer.” 

Meetings will take place on the last Friday of every month at 12 noon, for one hour. The next meeting is on 29 February at 12 noon, R20 per person. 

We still need residents to assist, if they can, with registration or making sandwiches or buying some biscuits for the meeting.  If anyone can help, or if you need more information, please contact - 

•          Kerryn Lawson kerrynl@meropa.co.za

•          Louwrens Malan louwrens@law.co.za 

Of potholes, power outages and street lights out of order

The CRA has reported numerous potholes in our area to the Joburg Roads Agency – and we’ll keep at it until something is done. We suggest that you report (011 375 5555 or 011 881 6053 - office hours) any that you are aware of and get a reference number – do the same for street lights (and it will speed things up if you can give the Council the number stencilled on the pole, as well as the street name). If nothing has happened after two weeks, send a note to Peter Heritage, with the reference number.  

Our Ward Councillor Ian Ollis informs us that updates on power outages are posted on the Eskom website -http://www.poweralert.co.za/. As outages are apparently going to be more frequent in two weeks time, we suggest that you consult the website daily to see what is happening in your area.  

Community notice

The Lay Fraternal, a group of volunteers representing 10 churches, has established a Help Desk at the Parkhurst Recreation Centre. The Help Desk is open on Thursday mornings from 09h00 to 12h00 and will provide services such as advice on legal and financial matters, HIV/AIDS and help with the processing of pension and ID books. 

The group is also holding a number of information forums about organisations doing meaningful community work. Lotsha, an organisation which ministers to offenders, will be the subject of the first forum: this will take place on Saturday 23 February at the St Martin de Porres Catholic Church in Lancaster Avenue Craighall Park at 15h00. Tea and coffee will be served after the open discussion time.

For more information, contact Pam Fletcher, (011)787 6430 or 072 421 6450. 

2008 subscriptions

Don’t forget to pay your 2008 subs!  For online payment info complete the subs form at http://www.cra.org.za/cra_subscription.htm. 

Executive contact details

An open letter to fellow residents (an excerpt) 

I am a resident in the area, having lived in Hurlingham since 2001. I have been a contributor to the community security initiative since moving into the area and have from time to time read newsletters which indicate that various people have experienced housebreakings or hijackings - never me,  until last Friday 1^st February 2008. 

I had hired the services of a Security consultant to guide me in securing my property. I invested in a state of the art security system – electric fencing, motion detector beams, video surveillance cameras and remote panic buttons all around the house. None of this helped. It could have, but it didn’t -…….so my family and I were comprehensively cleaned out on Friday morning between 8:15 and 8:45am – at a time where dozens of cars pass our house en route to work. 

The thieves’ modus operandi is now the most popular form of crime in Johannesburg and South African suburbia. According to Security consultants, the SAPS and SA crime statistics, armed house break-ins (with house owners actually in their home at the time of the break in) is the fastest growing form of crime in South Africa. Dozens of incidents are occurring daily across the Northern suburbs.  

Criminal gangs are now showing a strong preference to perpetrate crimes while residents/staff are in the house). The reasons for this are numerous – typically alarms are NOT on during the day and before  people go to bed ; provided that the occupants are rounded up quickly and ‘immobilised’ , there is little chance of alerting armed response/the police etc. Finally, the criminals can be given a guided tour around the premises and led straight to the most valuable household contents by terrified victims. 

The most fortunate thing about this break-in was that 3 experienced criminals were involved – they were cool, calculated and professional – thus the lives of my 11 year old son and my 2 domestic workers were spared. I am afraid others might be less fortunate – again, according to the many policemen that I have engaged with since our robbery, the influx of Zimbabweans (often ex military) and other residents of neighbouring states is contributing to the increase in violent house burglaries across Johannesburg. The other worry that we face is being invaded by inexperienced local gangs who are trigger happy and vindictive towards their victims. 

… Ironically, it was possibly for the best that a panic button was not pressed in this situation. These guys were pros’ – the way that they cleaned out demonstrated that they knew their merchandise well, knew what to take  (they took nothing that would identify them to the address, for example, no cell phones, digital or video cameras or passports). They probably knew how to handle a private security company coming onto the scene too. 

The biggest deterrents to this form of domestic crime (though not foolproof) is tight access control followed by highly visible security/ community policing. I think that this neighbourhood needs to do some serious thinking. 

To those who continue to boycott the contribution to the HGC security initiative, please give serious consideration to your stance. In today’s environment, it’s hard to believe that 40% of this neighborhood  cannot afford a monthly  contribution  that is equivalent in value to a meal at a medium priced restaurant. If the area had this additional money, we could near double the effort being put into the security initiative.