Forty years into the HIV/Aids epidemic, we are faced with a pandemic of a different nature — rampant and escalating levels of violent crime, endangering innocent community members, the public and private sector employees in parts of Cape Town.
That’s the warning sounded by a leading professor, after a string of violent incidents which have played out in communities where violence and crime are affecting the delivery of essential, free health services — and may, ultimately, have to be withdrawn.
The concerns have been raised in a letter penned by professor Linda-Gail Bekker, CEO of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation.
She wrote it after a staff member survived a brick thrown through his windscreen and agreed to share it after the recent violent robbery of US TB expert, professor David Russell, at gunpoint after Apple Maps directed him through crime-ridden Philippi en route to Cape Town International Airport.
The foundation, in association with the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, has been engaged in HIV prevention initiatives and treatment for two decades. It offers mobile clinics, health services at permanent sites and conducts HIV prevention studies in various areas.
“Positioned in the heart of the Crossroads township community, at our Emavundleni site, we not only conduct cutting-edge research into strategies to prevent HIV and HIV related diseases, but also provide essential health services to the community in the surrounding Nyanga district. These include free testing for STIs, TB, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, obesity and pregnancy,” she wrote.
“In the past five years we have recorded more than 60 violent incidents at or in proximity of our Emavundleni site, 70% of which have directly affected our staff, patients or subcontractors. Half of these were armed vehicle hijackings or smash and grab incidents.”
Staff feared for their safety commuting in and out of these areas as did patients and clients.
“Forty years into the HIV/Aids epidemic, we are faced with a pandemic of a different nature. Rampant and escalating levels of violent crime are holding our most vulnerable communities hostage. Despite the city’s response, the persisting threats, robberies, and killings, continue to instil fear and, moreover, create barriers to life-saving interventions, leaving communities bereft of their basic human rights,” reads the letter.
“This month we were beyond dismayed to see one of our most valued TB research collaborators, Prof David Russell, become yet another statistic in this war against crime. David was inadvertently on the self-same road in Crossroads in which many of these incidents have occurred, when he was attacked in his vehicle at gunpoint and sustained significant injuries. David this week reported that he doubted he would ever return to South Africa due to this level of violent crime.”
We fear a withdrawal of our services due to the persistent and escalating levels of violent crime. The safety and wellbeing of our staff, patients, and subcontractors are paramount.
— Desmond Tutu Health Foundation CEO, Linda-Gail Bekker
Bekker told TimesLIVE Premium she was hijacked by four men in 2017, almost in the same spot at Russell.
“We fear a withdrawal of our services due to the persistent and escalating levels of violent crime. The safety and wellbeing of our staff, patients, and subcontractors are paramount, and the high frequency of incidents, particularly armed vehicle hijackings and smash and grab attacks, creates an environment of constant fear.”
They asked what the city was doing to counter the scourge of violence and have raised the issue with city authorities and SAPS.
Russell, 67, had attended two medical conferences in the city.
“I was in Simon’s Town, in a rental car, on my way to the airport using Apple Maps on my phone to navigate my way, and I really should’ve looked at it, but I just accepted the route that the iPhone gave me,” the 67-year-old told TimesLIVE Premium from the US.
“I was sitting in the traffic and all of a sudden, the window on my side exploded and shattered into thousands of pieces.”
One suspect started hitting him in the face, while trying to snatch the car keys, a second hit him on the head with a brick from the passenger side.
He drove away to seek medical help at the airport and was taken by ambulance to Vincent Pallotti Hospital.
He sustained multiple bruises on his face, hands and arms, and required stitches on a finger.
“Because I had been hit on the head, the surgeon and trauma doctor recommended that I waited a couple of days before flying home,” he said.
Russell said the police appeared disinterested when he reported the robbery, despite showing them the location of his stolen phone which he tracked via laptop.
Police spokesperson Sgt Wesley Twigg said no criminal case had been registered for investigation.
In the 25 years that Russell has visited South Africa this was his first encounter with violent criminals. “I’ve been in situations before where I felt uncomfortable and got out quickly, but never had I been assaulted before.
“After the incident my friends in South Africa told me to go for counselling, and when I got back to the US, I got in touch with a trauma counsellor and we spoke through the issue,” said Russell.
He said he was unlikely to return to the country.
TimesLIVE Premium previously reported on US tourist Walter Fischel who survived being shot in the face and robbed in Nyanga while travelling from Simon’s Town to the airport using Google Maps.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Cape Town Tourism met Google Maps representatives early in November to discuss flagging dangerous areas on the app.
Tourism minister Patricia de Lille and country director of Google South Africa Prof Alistair Mokoena have signed a collaborative agreement to promote South Africa as a prime tourist destination.
Mokoena said Google Maps would no longer direct users into dangerous areas along with navigation service Waze.
City authorities said they had appealed to Apple Maps before Russell’s incident, to flag high crime areas but have yet to hear from the company.
Russell said local authorities should erect signs to warn visitors about crime hotspots.
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