One Resident's Story

“I do believe that I can add some value after–the-fact through recounting my ordeal of Wednesday night, 23rd May 2007, through which you may perhaps collectively be able to gain some fragment of awareness or avoidance strategy that could assist you in remaining off the statistics list, and hopefully in remaining a living member of the Groenkloof community should you similarly be attacked. The fact that this happened to me still confounds me as I am easily one of the most aware and best trained individuals in the community when it comes to awareness and strategy, with approach plans to our home embedded in our everyday lives and an awareness level of “condition yellow” never relaxed from, whilst “condition orange” is regularly engaged. I am left believing that if “I” could have been reduced to the status of “victim”, then what chance do other regular community members have?

The following is an account of the incident that is registered in our SAPS Sunnyside log book in anonymity of case number 1058/05/2007, yet does not in any way supersede the statement under oath that I made on that night:

I arrived to a darkened Groenkloof on Wednesday evening at roughly 20H30 having worked late at my place of employment in Samrand, with the power interrupted from Fountains circle inward. As I was taking my usual route from the first inlet to Groenkloof where George Storrar service road begins, and traveling from there up van Wouw street bound for my home at the corner of van Wouw and Engelenburg Streets across from the church, I remarked to myself at the number of vehicles that remained standing in the driveways outside their properties that had been stranded by the power cut disabling their motorized gates, and I hoped that these vehicles and their contents would remain intact with the criminal element proliferating in our suburb. My house was the only one to have outside lights still burning owing to the uninterruptible power supply that I have them connected to, yet as I approached the battery power was exhausted and that oasis of brilliance was also plunged into darkness. As I approached my house which is situated on the corner I habitually scanned the visible length of van Wouw street toward Jan Cilliers Park for possible threats, and similarly the length of Engelenburg street down to George Storrar Drive. Nothing out of the ordinary was visible, and I proceeded to stop my vehicle and alight from it in front of my disabled motorized gate. I removed the keys from the ignition and walked to the corner to ensure my further safety by scanning up and down van Wouw street and Engelenburg Street and still noted nothing out of the ordinary in the pitch blackness. At that point I decided to call my colleague and friend who lives across from “Protea Park” who had traveled from work behind and beyond me to ascertain his safety at that notorious crime spot. This cellular call was initiated as I scaled my gate in order to unlock it from the inside, which is an easy task for me to accomplish with one free hand.

I was halfway up my gate when a vehicle without lights on came speeding around my corner from the van Wouw Street direction of Jan Cillier Park, in front of my driveway from which alighted three shouting black men, two of whom were brandishing pistols, the one which was audibly cycled to make me aware of a hot round in the chamber. The driver remained inside the vehicle. The move was executed by the men to perfection, and was well practiced as the forward motion of the vehicle put them at a trot as they alighted whilst it was still moving, thereby allowing them to cover the distance to me in very little time. “Fight or flight” is the decision that I needed to make at that point. I was a “sitting duck” hanging from my gate, two pistols were pointing at me and I was outnumbered three – to – one by frantic assailants with a further source of firepower possibly in the driver – seat of the hijacker’s vehicle. Two of the many previously hijacked friends that I have immediately came to mind: they were both hijacked twice, on both occasions of which they had been shot. The unluckier of the two is missing a substantial portion of his colon from the first occasion, and a shattered femur from the second which has him permanently on crutches. I was too low on the gate to hurl myself over, and would have had no protection from bullets within my property. It was too late to run as they were upon me, besides which the nimble youths would have had me within the first few bounds. To draw my weapon would have been folly as I was “under the gun” and it would only have prompted them to leave me hanging bullet riddled from my gate. The decision was to do neither fight nor flight, but to allow myself to be “processed” with two primary objectives in mind: stay alive, and do not allow them to take my firearm off me with which they will further equip themselves to bring misery to the lives of law – abiding people.

I relaxed and allowed them to pluck my cell phone from me whilst they pulled me from the gate and hurled me to the ground. I took care to fall onto my concealed pistol thereby pinning it between my body and the ground, and passively resisted any attempt by them to roll me over from the semi - fetal position that I had assumed in order to keep them from reaching that precious asset. I am tall, well muscled and heavily framed; which resulted in their feeble attempts to turn me failing as I feigned total surrender. I was repeatedly and on an ongoing basis informed by them in both Afrikaans and English as to the fact that I was about to receive a bullet, and that I was a number of things that, amongst others, included female private parts. The keys to my vehicle were demanded of me, which I calmly informed the demander that they were already in his possession having been taken from my jacket pockets along with the keys to my house. Two jumped into my vehicle at that point and started it whilst the other foul – mouthed pistol bearer continued his incessant rhetoric as to my female genital nature and as to how he is going to enjoy killing me. Throughout this time my skin sensibly tingled in preparation to receive a bullet at any point, something that I remember from my time in the military whilst under incoming fire. My tormentor only backed away from me to his waiting driver and vehicle when my own vehicle was speeding away down Engelenburg Street under tyre – screaming navigation by his accomplices. Whilst still training his pistol on me and informing me that he is about to shoot me the hijacker climbed into the waiting vehicle which then sped away, at which point I uncoiled myself and stood up. I did not draw my weapon and fire at the departing vehicle as in effect, even though I would be effecting a justifiable arrest following commission of a “schedule one offence” I would have been the criminal in the eyes of the law were the occupants injured or killed as they no longer posed a deadly threat to me, stray bullets in the ensuing fray may have hurt innocent people or property, and ultimately I would have lost all that I pursue in my sport as a shooter, for which I have National colors and have represented South Africa in two World Championships, the last of which in 2005 secured our country the Gold. We can argue the matter to exhaustion, but it takes only one biased SAPS officer and one public prosecutor to seal your fate for you if you seemingly step onto the other side of the law. I would not have been a hero, but instead in jail to further my relationship with my newly acquainted hijacking friends. Instead I set out to do what I started, and that was scaling my gate, this time however with an entirely different purpose.

Almost to add insult to injury the patrolling security vehicle drove past me at that moment coincidental to my vehicle and the getaway vehicle turning into George Storrar Drive to proceed in a Westerly direction, yet such security patrol failed to see me in waving and calling to it in the dark. Also, further insulting was the restoration of power to the neighborhood at that very moment!

Ironically, the real criminals here are the ineffective, incompetent, and unqualified “new appointees” to the Tswhane City Council and ESKOM who have failed to employ our hard – earned contributions in providing for sufficient infrastructure to cater for the increasing demand, but instead exhausting it on lavish bonuses and employment of ineffectual individuals whose group effort lacks the luster of a single previously employed person who now languishes in probable unemployment owing to his or her circumstances of continental origin. This would not have happened to me if there was electricity, and that is the bottom line.

My colleague and dear friend, having heard the entire detailed action on the cell phone owing to the hijackers failing to end the call attempted in vain to call 10111, only receiving and answering service. Eventually Vodacom’s emergency line patched him through, and the cavalry were on their way, or so we thought. This friend in realizing what was happening to me jumped back into his vehicle and drove madly to my home in my aid, yet arrived after the incident and in finding my vehicle missing and me nowhere in sight, proceeded to give chase in the direction that he assumed the hijackers to have taken with me probably in the vehicle with them. Gratefully he did not catch them as he was unarmed, and I did call him directly after the incident to reassure him of my safety.

In the meantime I scaled the gate, informed my shocked and crying family of the incident, and contacted MATRIX who succeeded in tracking my vehicle to Atteridgeville and securing it within the half – hour. I was informed that it was standing in Atteridgeville and that it was locked, and that the Police would collect it and take it to the safekeeping facility in Pretoria West. The Police officer who assisted MATRIX, a certain Inspector Matlou, was very helpful over the telephone in explaining the recovery procedure to me and in giving me directions of where to collect my vehicle, and that I must bring the keys with me at 07H00 the following morning to open the vehicle. Inspector Matlou even called me later to find out if I was alright, which was great service from the SAPS. I had also been visited by the SAPS at my home some time after the incident, with a statement taken yet not the cavalry in hot pursuit, but that was alright as the other arms of SAPS together with MATRIX recovered my vehicle.

The following morning I went to the Police facility in Pretoria West with my keys to unlock and recover my vehicle, only to find that it was standing with doors open, broken into with the back window kicked out. The missing effects from inside the vehicle including my notebook computer, digital camera, wallet, cell phone accessories, etcetera, now falling into question as to whether they were all stolen by the hijackers, or some of them by the SAPS? I am bitter about this. MATRIX and the honest cops secured my locked and intact vehicle from the hijackers, yet thereafter it was desecrated, and I have no recourse? The vehicle took more than three hours to get out of the safekeeping facility, and would have taken longer were I not helped by a caring Police Sergeant who took it upon himself to personally walk my case through and have my vehicle processed.

My family is traumatized, our lives are shattered, my driver’s license is missing for which I will probably be arrested for driving without whilst Enatis suffers its illegitimate birth, and my ID document remains at the mercy of Home Affairs in replacing.

Counseling has been offered to my family by both MATRIX and my insurance Glenrand MIB, and I think that Felicity and my daughter Carlynne should consider this as they are deeply affected by this, with our home no longer a place of safety and tranquility. This is a wonderful service provided by these organizations, yet something like this should not even be considered a necessity in a wonderful country such as ours

I have replayed this incident over and over again in my mind to analyze it to determine what I had done wrong and to learn from the experience. Having examined all of the avenues I remain resolute that I could have done nothing differently. These thugs had the jump on me from the instant that they tore around the corner and stopped in front of my driveway with pistols trained on me. Even if I had my pistol in my hand instead of my cell phone I would have been dead before I hit the ground if I chose to open fire from my perch on the gate, as they had me covered from the moment they came around the corner. If I did open fire before the threat was identified I may have harmed or killed some innocent folks with non – functioning headlights.

I have one thing to say in particular, and that is those who opposed the fencing off of our lovely suburb to satisfy their own agendas are responsible for the state of affairs that we currently experience, and I resent them all for their narrow – mindedness at that time. Our associates who live in secured suburbs have their children playing in the streets and take evening strolls without fear, yet we are hijacked, my neighbor mugged in Jan Cilliers park, my neighbor locked up in their toilet whilst their home was ransacked, the lady from the church across the way raped, my other neighbor below me broken into, my own proerty broken into on two occasions yielding a handbag on one occasion and garden tools on another; the frequent running through my property at night of thugs who clear electric fences and spiked walls of other properties on their way. I can go on but do not wish to seem reactionary.

Bottom line is our children now compare at school the ordeals of their parents at the hands of criminals instead of discussing the escapades of Tintin and Winnie the Pooh.

I have no advice for you on a plan to secure the suburb further than I have to secure my own arrival and departure from my home, which plan is fundamentally flawed should I have to leave my vehicle for any reason as is demonstrated in this account. Is the grasping of a firearm in our hands whilst driving, shopping and generally going about our way considered a way of life? No answers exist here as our Government has failed us in allowing crime to reach the proportions that it has.

I trust that you have possibly learned from this account, and hope that others will be as vigilant as I am without severely affecting the quality of their lives.

Yours sincerely,

Derek Wade.
274 Engelenburg Street,
Groenkloof.

Groenkloof Picnic in the Park - a great success

The GSI hosted a Picnic in the Park on Sunday 6 May for all residents (and friends) of Groenkloof.
Our biggest goal with this event was to get the community involved in the fight against crime - to ultimately create a safe and pleasant neighbourhood.

The Groenkloof community came together and enjoyed the Jan Cilliers park for the first time in years. Live Jazz, a performance by the SAPS Dog School, clowns, jumping castles, picnic baskets and braaivleis, set the scene for this most enjoyable and fruitful day. The wonderful weather completed the setting for a perfect Sunday. Mr James Lourens of George Storrar Motors kept the children busy with his kind donation of Frisbees and balls and other sponsors from the Groenkloof Plaza shopping centre gave generously towards a lucky draw for attendees. A warm thanks to Smoke Grill Restaurant, Café 41, Pride of India, Rita Nel (Dentist), Le Citron Fleur, The Gift Horse, Pizza del Forno, Thomas Jewell Hairdressing, Spar, Multibraai and The Studio Silkscreen.

Watching the children playing in the park, dogs being walked and the camaraderie, it was evident that many young people have moved into this area, bringing it back to life. Certainly a scene not seen for a very long time and which hopefully will become a regular sight.

Help the Homeless

Refer the homeless to places of shelter. We got these two numbers from Insp. Claassens of SAPS:

• Home of Hope (Shelter for girls), Jorrisen & Mears Streets, Sunnyside. Contact Martha at 084 846 4209
• Itumeleng Shelter (for boys), 50 Vos Street, Sunnyside. Contact Pheladi at 012 343 1373

Crime survey questionnaire to be circulated shortly

The GSI community survey will be happening within the next three weeks. Although the finalisation of the questionnaire was delayed a bit, it will be dispensed shortly at the following distribution points:

• Electronically to all email addresses on the GSI database
• At the GSI Picnic in the Park on the 6th of May (read more about it on this site!)
• Residents can pick up a copy at 107 Frans Oerder street
• Visits by team members for those who couldn't be reached previously

Please complete your copy of the questionnaire and drop it into the post box at 107 Frans Oerder street or give it to one of our team members. Contact us if you haven't received a copy at groenkloof@mediamosaics.co.za.

Phone these numbers in an emergency!

Insp. Claassens - SAPS - 072 1066 044
SAPS patrol vehicles in Groenkloof - 079 427 0223 / 079 542 6941

Our connection to the Groenkloof Policing Forum

The GSI functions independently from the Groenkloof Policing Forum. It is however supported by this group, as well as the Groenkloof Residents Association. To read more about the GPF and GRA see www.groenkloof.com.

GSI Meeting Outcomes - 19 March

I would like to confirm the current status and actions agreed upon at this last meeting.

1. The task team consists of five main streams namely:
- Community Survey: Omri van Zyl
- Communication Strategy: Mareli Wassenaar
- Security Solution: Hein Snyman
- Community Mobilization: Lance de Willers
- Community Improvement District: Mike Bolifilatos

2. The task team accepted that it will pursue a Community Improvement District in which a security solution will be developed.

3. Next steps
3.1 Appoint Piet du Toit and apply for assistance from the Tshwane Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Charles Barwise - Done
3.2 Engage other important roleplayers. Charles Barwise - In process
3.3 Finalise questionnaire. Everybody provide final feedback to Omri by end this week
3.4 Engage volunteers. Everybody
3.5 Meeting with the Sunnyside Station Commander, 26 March 2007 at 05:00
- Hein Snyman
- Lance de Willers
-Pravin Gordhan
-Charles Barwise

Regards
Charles Barwise Tel: (011) 289-0661 Fax: (011) 289-0820 e-mail: charles.barwise@brokers.absa.co.za

Turn your cellphone into a panic button

HOME911 - for all cell phone networks:

STEP 1
In a home emergency, any one of the HOME911 members presses the speed dial button on his/her cellphone.
STEP 2
A call is made to HOME911 monitoring centre. The call rings once, then is disconnected (before it is answered, therefore no call charges to the member) and HOME911 immediately sends an ALERT SMS to all the member's sms recipients similtaniously.

HOME911 logs the call and informs the operator, confirms and records all sms deliveries. "This process is completed in ±30 seconds"

Example - the member in the emergency situation may be confronted by the mugger, robber or rapist and by just using the speed dial facilty on their cellphone will make the call to HOME911 without alerting the criminal that a call has being made.

STEP 3
ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE SMS RECIPIENTS
In a criminal emergency the role of the sms recipient is not to call the member in distress or place is/her life at risk by getting physically involved but to contact the South African Police Services.

In a medical emergency the role of the sms recipient/s is to contact the member and assist where ever possible, either by contacting medical services, family doctor etc.

More information available at www.home911.co.za.

Look4help - For Vodacom subscribers only:

Look4help provides Vodacom subscribers with a mobile panic button. By saving the Look4help number *120*888*888# as a speed dial, you can immediately notify 4 pre-specified cell users that you need help, and inform them of your current location.

Look4help means that any Vodacom subscriber in emergencies don't have to waste precious seconds giving your location to a third party over the phone.

Look4help is available for a subscription fee of R11.40 per month. The cost of activating a Look4help alert is R2.99.

To register for Look4Help follow these easy steps:

1. Go to www.look4me.co.za.
2. Login to your Look4me account. If you have forgotten your login details, or you're not currently registered for Look4me simply send the word PIN to 31888. You will receive an SMS within a short while informing you of your Look4me Internet login details. Registering for a Look4me web account is free.
3. Once you have logged into your account, click on the Look4help tab on the left hand side of the screen. You will be presented with the Look4help screen.
4. Complete the appropriate fields by entering the cell numbers of the persons you wish to notify in an emergency. Click on the confirm button.
5. Save the following code to your contact list: *120*888*888#
6. Allocate one of your speed-dials to this number. We recommend "9"

In an emergency situation simply depress the relevant button, i.e. "9", for 5 seconds. Up to 4 SMS's detailing your current location will immediately be sent to the pre-specified cell users.
TariffsSubscription is R11.40 per month.

You will only be charged when you process the panic button (i.e. “9”). The cost is R3.42 whether it is sent to 1 or 4 people. Note that these tariffs are subject to change without prior notice.

Groenkloof Police Forum Meeting -14 February 2007

At the last GPF public meeting you may remember that a suggestion to form a task team was made and people volunteered to serve on this task team.

These people were contacted by Charles Barwise and met on 19 February 2007 where a task team was created and named THE GROENKLOOF SAFETY INITIATIVE.

The aim of this initiative is to ultimately make Groenkloof a safe area where residents can pursue a quality life style. We see this happening through community involvement and a security solution which is best for the community at large. The group commits themselves to represent the interests of everyone in the Groenkloof area and to operate in a transparent manner. You will be able to recognise future correspondence from the group by the GSI logo used on this letter.

Proposals for private security solutions, mobilizing the community to work with the SAPS and communication in support of a safer Groenkloof was discussed. Smaller task teams were formed to address these focus areas. These teams meet every Monday night to ensure quick progress on these issues. A list of teams with contact details is included. Please contact the team leaders if you are willing to get involved.

The teams are:

1. Community survey (Inventory / Questionnaire) Chairperson - Omri van Zyl e-mail: ovanzyl@deloitte.co.za Cell: 082-417-5724. The purpose is to determine the demographics and needs of our residents.

2. Communication (Brand owner) Chairperson - Mareli Wassenaar e-mail: mareli@mediamosaics.co.za Cell: 082-854-6854. The purpose is to build a database of our community and to ensure effective communication with the residents.

3. Security Solution (Ultimate plan / business plan / R&D) Chairperson - Hein Snyman e-mail: heinsny@law.co.za Cell: 082-776-1752. The purpose is to evaluate alternative security solutions and propose the best solutions.

4. Community Mobilization (Short-term plan / immediate benefits) Chairperson - Lance De Willerse-mail: lance@tribesafari.com Cell: 082-336-8529. The purpose is to work on suggestions that can immediately be of benefit to the community for example the domestic watch project.

Informal Research
In order to pursue some of the options to make our neighbourhood safer we need to know a little more about the residents and their needs. Volunteers will visit households in Groenkloof during March to execute this informal research. We ask your cooperation to please be available for 15 minutes to complete a short questionnaire. The volunteers will not ask you to share any confidential information and your participation in this process is strictly voluntary. We do hope, however, that you will allow the volunteers to talk to you and get your feedback and input to help make our neighbourhood safer. No-one knows Groenkloof better than its residents and your input will allow the task team to come up with the best solution to suit our community.

Some of us are rarely home and may find it easier to provide this information via email. If you would prefer the questionnaire to be emailed to you, please contact Omri van Zyl at ovanzyl@deloitte.co.za.

Groenkloof Residents Database
We will also be updating the Groenkloof Residents database and would like your cooperation to ensure more effective two-way communication. There are several options to make this happen:

· By Email
Please e-mail your Name and Surname to groenkloof@mediamosaics.co.za. You will thereafter receive a reply to complete an electronic form.

· By hand
You can drop a note with your details (Name, Surname, Tel, Cell, Fax, Street Address and Postal Address, Stand no, Other) in Charles Barwise's postal box at no 103 Frans Oerder Street. Forms will be distributed at our next community meeting on 14 March.

· Face to face
If you can’t do any of the above, volunteers will get your details when they visit you shortly.

To conclude
If you would like to be part of the task team, register as volunteer, or get more information about the Groenkloof Safety Initiative, you can contact the task team leader at charles.barwise@brokers.absa.co.za. You can also read more about SAPS community policing at http://www.saps.gov.za/.

The next Groenkloof Policing Forum meeting will take place on 14 March at 18h00 at UP Groenkloof Campus. We will use this opportunity to give you feedback on the progress and the research project will be launched at the event. Be there to show your support and take an active interest in the safety of Groenkloof.

GSI Communication