The Cape Town councillor for the area where Mpumalanga pensioner Karin van Aardt was stabbed during a smash-and-grab and later died has accused the media of focusing on the crime because the victim was white.
Van Aardt was killed when she and her husband, Herman, were attacked after leaving the airport last month.
The couple were on their way to Vredenburg for their granddaughter’s eighth birthday celebration.
Residents of the Kosovo informal settlement in Langa, along Jakes Gerwel Drive, said they are living under siege after a series of smash-and-grab incidents in the area. On Tuesday, residents complained that some motorists, trying to fend off robbers, open fire, with stray bullets landing on their shacks.
They said the community had raised the issue with Ward 52 councillor Thembelani Nyamakazi. But when approached for comment, Nyamakazi criticised the media.
“I am sorry to say this, but the media has a problem because a white person died,” he said.
“Now we have to answer, whereas the problem has been going on for a long time. It’s not something that started last year or the year before. The smash-and-grab problem has been happening there for a long time, which is totally wrong.”
Nyamakazi then turned his attention to the residents.
“It can’t be correct that when people talk, they say the public representative must come up with a solution. What are the residents of that area doing?” he asked.
“If the residents can form a neighbourhood watch that will watch the area, whether there are police officers or not, do you think there could be smash-and-grabs? The answer is no. It can’t be Nyamakazi’s office that initiates a solution that residents themselves can come up with. A neighbourhood watch complements law enforcement. Why don’t they sit down with the police station and my office and ask us to take them through the process so they can have a neighbourhood watch in the area as victims?”
Nyamakazi said the assailants stand in front of traffic lights before attacking motorists.
“Why don’t the residents form a wall of neighbourhood watches and say: ‘You will not stand here?’ That is my view, instead of pointing fingers.”
Kosovo resident Khanyiso Thembeni, 39, a taxi driver, showed TimesLIVE holes where a bullet pierced his wardrobe, tore through his clothes and lodged in his door. He said he was asleep when the shots were fired. His shack is close to the road.
“I have lived here for about six years,” he said.
“The smash-and-grab crime has always been a problem. Sometimes the criminals stand next to our shacks while waiting to pounce on cars. When police chase them, they disappear between the shacks. Sometimes we tell them to leave because we are scared of getting caught in crossfire when motorists shoot at them.”
The wardrobe is not far from his bed.
“The bullet came through the back and pierced my shirts, which were hanging inside by the collars,” he said. “If anyone had been standing there at that moment, he or she would have died. I was shocked. It’s common to hear gunshots around this area. I did not report the incident to the police. I did not see the point.”
He said the criminals often strike after police and law enforcement officers leave.
Fellow resident Phathilizwe Phethula shared Thembeni’s concerns.
“The criminals are endangering the community because they get shot at after attacking cars,” said Phethula.
“It happens at times when there are no police officers. My neighbour’s home was one of the houses hit.”
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