HOSPITAL VIEW RESIDENTS LIVE IN FEAR OF THIEVES

Hospital View residents in Thembisa live under constant fear of amaphara breaking into their homes. According to one of the residents, Tshegofatso Mabokela, aka Dj Kwaal, calls for help to the police, and the councillor yields no results. Dj Kwaal is afraid of the thieves and amaphara who have occupied his neighbour’s house for the past 6 months. He says the owner of the house is not a thief. “I asked my neighbours about the house next door. They said it belonged to a certain family which had only one child, whom they called Uncle Rodney. His father sold the house a long time ago, and the person who took over seemed to be very busy and rented out the house. The tenant stayed no longer than a month, and so it’s been empty for years,” he tells The Olifants.

The thieves now hide in the house next door and smoke drugs. They have since attempted to cut his barbed wire to access his yard. Mabokela has been calling the police every time he hears sounds next door. “The police told me that they are afraid of doing a trespass,” he explains. He then decided to do his own investigation and discovered that the thugs are from the same section. He was given the names of three(3) suspects called Andile, Thabang Chauke, and Kagiso wa Ga Bo Aubrey. Dj Kwaal alleges that the thieves stole from his yard, and he reported to the Rabasotho Police Station, where he opened a case stating that he has the suspects’ details (names and addresses). “They promised me that they’re gonna come later on so that they can arrest these boys, but they never came,” he points out.

The thugs kept on breaking into the neighbours’ houses, and they kept on calling the police, who did not want to get into the yard. After the police left around 2 in the morning, the neighbours walked to the park, and that is where they found “the most wanted person”, known as a thief in the area. However, he has since disappeared.The grandmother of Mabokela’s friend, staying just a few yards away, has also had her home broken into. She went and reported to the councillor, who promised to get back to her. She has not heard from the councillor since.

“These thieves smoke drugs. The number 1 suspect said that they smoke crystal. They jumped into my yard so many times. What helps me is the whistle. But here in Hospital View, even if you blow a whistle, no one comes out,” say Dj Kwaal. The Hospital View residents are asking the councillor to lend them an ear, as they are not safe. “Especially me, because the neighbour’s house is very close to my room. It’s easy for them to jump over from that side to mine,” Mabokela appeals.