Tag: Faerie Glen

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Illegal land grabbers in Faerie Glen, Pretoria East became very hostile and threatened the community that they will burn down their homes and kill them

Land grabbers in Faerie Glen, Pretoria East became very hostile and threatened the community that they will burn down their homes and kill them

Dear Residents,

I just got back from an attempted land grab of Municipal Property in Faerie Glen, Plaston Str.

I arrived on site this afternoon with the community who wanted to meet with the ‘owners’ of the property after they started building and even put in an illegal water connection to this property, probably to make the construction seem more legitimate.

Unfortunately for the land grabbers, the community is very well organized and aware of the fact that this property is a Municipal Road Reserve.
I immediately contacted the MMC as well as the Chairperson of Roads & Transport from the site, who confirmed my position that no Municipal Land was sold to these ‘owners’.

I proceeded to disrupt this meeting, saying that we cannot engage with thugs grabbing land and, unless they can prove the contrary, they should leave – this prompted the land grabbers, who were very diplomatic up until then, to show their true colors and intent.

The land grabbers became very hostile and threatened the community that they will burn down their homes and kill them. There were a few shuffles between the land grabbers and the community which TMPD Officers, and later also SAPS, had to break up.

The negotiator later asked me to get the community to agree to a round table meeting during the week, only then will they leave. I told him that if they don’t leave, I will not be held responsible for any possible actions of the community.
They left within 15min thereafter, shouting that they will take the land by force.

The Tshwane Metro Police Department’s Land Invasion Unit will start cleaning the area.

I have also made contact with the Community Policing Forum, who mobilized, and security companies will patrol this area to ensure the safety of the residents.

We always think that this will not happen to us. Clearly it does, and in this case a very quiet street in Pretoria East.
The community, from all walks of life, yet again showed their calibre by mobilizing against lawlessness and sent the land grabbers leaving with, among others, a Mercedes Benz and a Range Rover.

My plea to you is:
Be vigilant.
Get involved in the CPF.
Get onto a community WhatsApp or Telegram group.
Build a personal relationship with your security company.

We can only succeed if we work together, as a community.

To the residents in the area of the land grab, well done and thank you for being active citizens!

Stay vigilant!

Best Regards,
Cllr. Ernst Botha
Ward 44

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Pretoria east residents see red over blackouts

Pretoria east residents see red over blackouts

A DARK Christmas looms for Pretoria east residents, who have since called on the City to shed light on their predicament.

Residents in Mooikloof, Faerie Glen, Zwavelpoort and Olympus have been plagued by random power outages in recent months.

Mathlodi Kgapola said her Mooi- kloof residence and surrounding estates had two outages at least twice a week without any explanation or warning.

Another resident, from Faerie Glen, said they were tired of the City’s “lame excuses”. These ranged from stormy weather and trees not being felled that disturbed electricity poles to cable theft. “Every time it is a new story,” said the resident.

She understood that even in the most well developed cities there were power outages, but “the City must let us know in time so we can make alternative plans for the festive season and security”.

Once criminals knew the City was not doing anything about the power outages, they would capitalise on it, especially during the festive season while families were away on vacation, she said.

Alarms and beams were not fully operational when there was a power failure, she added.

Marius Groenewald from Zwavelpoort said his smallholding had been inundated with power outages that put his family at risk.

Criminals thrived on chaos and darkness was their playground. “Load shedding provides both of these environments for lurking lawbreakers seeking to capitalise from this.”

MMC for Infrastructure Darryl Moss said power outages arose from a number of causes – cable theft, vandalism, trees falling on power lines, lightning strikes, cable faults, backlogs in maintenance and overloading of the energy network.

Moss said many of the power outages were unforeseen, and needed to be dealt with as they arose. The City had been upgrading the electrical network, which would reduce the number of outages.

“We have been putting measures in place to shorten the time that the power is out. We are seeing some success, but with the maintenance backlog it will take time to get everything sorted out.”

The outagein some areas in the east was a trip on the 132Kv line, which was identified quickly, and power soon restored, he said. “We do not see any reason for the residents to worry unduly. Outages will occur, but our electricity teams are on standby, and should be able to deal with the problems quickly.”

No maintenance work was planned on the network during the next month, he said, so there were no planned shutdowns in the pipeline until after the middle of January.

On the brighter side, there was a new water reticulation network for parts of Pretoria east.

The eight-month project, is expected to be completed by August 2018. During construction residents would be duly notified of any water supply interruptions, he said.

“The R12.9million upgrade is part of an overarching city-wide project to replace old and dilapidated water networks,” the City said.

The area has been plagued by leaks and water supply interruptions over the years, causing frustration for residents especially in Elarduspark, Rietvalleipark and Waterkloof AH.

Many pipes needed replacing because they were past their design lifetime, and there was a R2billion hole in the budget for the work, the City said.

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425 on Wisteria in the Faerie Glen area – What an awesome place to stay at !!

425 on Wisteria is located in the Faerie Glen neighborhood in Pretoria, 1 km from Faerie Glen Shopping Centre and 1 km from Pic n Pay (Faerie Glen – Pretoria). Free WiFi is available and free private parking is available on site.

The rooms are fitted with a flat-screen TV. Some units have a sitting area for your convenience. You will find a kettle in the room.

Decor Shopping Centre is 1.1 km from 425 on Wisteria, and NG Church Valleisig is 1.1 km from the property. The nearest airport is O.R. Tambo International Airport, 40.2 km from the property.

Free private parking is available on site (reservation is not needed).

Facilities available:
Flat-screen TV

To view more facilities at this venue, please click on the link below…..

Book your room at this Hotel now!

Find and Book your Cheap Flights here!

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We’ll deal with criminals ourselves, threaten Faerie Glen residents

Pretoria – Residents of Faerie Glen in Pretoria East have threatened to take matters into their own hands to deal with an increase in crime in the area if police did not intervene.

They said the community was being held hostage by criminals after a surge in housebreakings and muggings over the past few months.

Reports of crime from the suburb and nearby Faerie Glen Nature Reserve have emerged, with the first crime inside the reserve taking place two weeks ago after a 10-year record of safety and security.

A woman was attacked while running on the trail in the reserve and all her gear, including shoes, cellphone, hydration backpack and sunglasses were taken.

Warnings began going up on social media, where trail runners were asked to be cautious and not to run on their own, as criminals, often wielding knives and wearing balaclavas, were on the prowl.

The criminals are said to gain entry into the nature reserve through Atterbury Bridge and using the Manitoba Bridge to gain access to the rest of the nature reserve and into the homes along its periphery.

20/07/2017. Manitoba bridge inside the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve which criminals use to gain accessto houses on the perifery.
Picture: Bongani Shilulbanen

Homes hit are those located on the eastern side and last week residents said they were fed up with what they perceived as a lack of police action.

“We are going to be using maximum force to protect ourselves from these thugs.”

“Extreme situations require extreme measures,” said a resident who lives opposite the nature reserve in Glenwood Street.

He said on two occasions he had spotted burglars in his yard.

“They have stolen my hose pipe and rake,” he said.

Kefentse Mompei who lives adjacent to the reserve, said criminals were now becoming arrogant and doing as they pleased. Her clothes were stolen off her washing line, she said.

She said Faerie Glen Nature Reserve opposite her residential complex provided a hiding place for criminals.

“What is sad is that a resident will end up shooting and killing the perpetrators and they will be jailed for protecting their family,” said Mompei.

Community members said they were fed up and wanted a public meeting with police as soon as possible to discuss the setting-up of foot patrols.

Other residents said despite a police station being close to their homes they no longer felt safe.

Resident Maralise Louw said they wanted to call on all men in the community to come out and assist people going to work to protect them from being attacked.

“And also for men to go to the gates of the schools to make sure children going to school do so safely,” she said.

The chairperson of the Friends of the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve, Louise Kritzinger, said the fences along January Masilela, Glenwood and Manitoba roads needed maintenance.

The opening under the Atterbury Bridge which criminals use to gain access to Faerie Glen Nature Reserve. Picture: Bongani Shilulbanen

 

She said the makeshift fence, made of thin wooden poles, under the Atterbury Bridge needed to be reinforced properly if it was to keep criminals out.

A bushy area situated close to the Atterbury Bridge is where the criminals lived, the Pretoria News was told.

“We are going to suggest that the metro police remove the vagrants,” Kritzinger said.

The reserve was fenced off over a period of about five years from 2002, said Kritzinger.

Residents attributed the increase in crime in the area to development on the northern side of the reserve, adjacent to Lynnwood Road.

They said builders and job seekers had flooded into the area, leading to squatting on the mountain.

According to Kritzinger, after those developments were finished some people continued to live in the bushes, but they were removed from the reserve by mounted police patrols in 2006 and 2007.

Councillor Ernst Botha from Ward 44 said he had been in constant contact with Lieutenant Colonel Kervin Solomon of Garsfontein police, requesting intervention.

A meeting had yet to be set up, he said.

“As you may have become aware, Faerie Glen Nature Reserve has recently become a hot spot for criminal elements; myself and Councillor Pieter van Heerden from Ward 46, adjacent to Ward 44, have collectively been in discussions with various stakeholders to try to curb crime in the area,” said Botha.

They have also taken it up with the top structures within the city, including the departments of Community Safety, Emergency Services and the chairperson of Community Safety.

The city and police had not responded on the soaring crime rate by late on Sunday afternoon.

BY SAKHILE NDLAZI: Pretoria News/IOL