Yet another well-coordinated house robbery occurred in Franschhoek at the weekend, adding to the alarming surge in robberies at residential and farming properties in the Cape Winelands in recent months.
A message sent by one of Franschhoek’s anti-crime activists alleged four male suspects, armed with knives, gained access to a farm along Verdun Road in Franschhoek about 03:00 on Friday 16 August.
“They entered the house and restrained the occupants,” the message read. “The suspects remained at the scene for about two hours, stealing various items before leaving. It was later discovered that a pile of stones had been stacked near the farm to mark the targeted residence. The victims managed to free themselves and contacted the police and security around 05:30.”
Franschhoek police could not be reached to confirm the incident.
Similar incidents, following the same modus operandi, have in recent months been reported in Franschhoek, Paarl and Wellington.
Eikestadnuus is aware only of one arrest that was made following the kidnapping of two Stellenbosch University students in July on the Franschhoek Pass. The students were released in Grabouw after a ransom had to be paid.
Though police could not confirm it at the time, a cyclist was also reportedly kidnapped in the same manner the same week.
The cyclist was also released in Grabouw following a ransom payment.
Since then, police have cautioned cyclists, joggers and the general public to be aware of their surroundings when approaching the Franschhoek Pass, urging them to run and cycle in groups.
In this month there have been at least five separate robberies on farms and residents’ properties in the winelands. In most of these incidents, victims were apparently tied up while their houses were ransacked and several valuable items stolen.
Victims are also often forced to transfer funds from their bank accounts, which seems to be the golden thread in the well-coordinated robberies.
No arrests had been made in any of these incidents.
Thomas Walters, the DA’s provincial spokesperson for community safety and police oversight, this week said the best way to combat such organised crime is through an intelligence-led approach.
“It is, however, clear that much more work needs to be done by the South African Police Service to improve the status of crime intelligence in our province,” he pointed out.
“At present, 62% of serious crime in the Western Cape remains unsolved due to the serious lack of dedicated investigative units in the province, and the former provincial head of crime intelligence was fired for alleged serious misconduct last week.”
Walters added that the police’s senior management must take this opportunity to appoint competent leadership and provide the necessary resources to rebuild the national police service’s intelligence-gathering capacity. “Only then will we be able to make progress against the organised crime syndicates who perpetrate extortion,” he said.
“While this competency remains a mandate of the national government through the police, we continue to use our position in the provincial parliament to push for more action on this issue and hope to see the police adopt the data-driven approach, which has been proven in practice by the Western Cape government’s LEAP Programme.”
