GGVNW MEETING TONIGHT (Thurs 17th June)
There will be a monthly meeting of the Greater Glencairn Valley Neighbourhood Watch at the Phoenix Hall in Glencairn Heights from 6.30 to 7.30 pm on Thursday 17th June.
Missing Love Bird
We have lost our blue tame love bird - she will feel comfortable if you open an bird cage or hold out your hand. Attached is a photograph.
She has white around her eyes and black head.
Please if anyone sees her could you please call Ingrid Franzsen at 073 600 5803 or Eurico de Freitas at 0982 453 6744 from 1 Cockburn Close, Glencairn Heights or phone the Glencairn Vet at
021 782 4472.
Last seen on 15 June at no 15 de Villiers street, Glencairn.
THank you
Eurico de Freitas
Minutes of GGVNW Meeting of 19 May
SIMON’S TOWN COMMUNITY POLICE SUB FORUM (SECTOR 1)
(incorp. Greater Glencairn Valley Neighbourhood Watch)
MINUTES OF MEETING
HELD AT PHOENIX HALL ON WEDNESDAY 19th May 2010
PRESENT
Chairperson – Aliet Pelt
Secretary – Lesley Minnaar (standing in while Geoff Neden away)
Attendance Register – completed and filed: 23 members present.
1) WELCOME AND LAST MONTH’S MINUTES
The chairperson thanked all present for attending.
Apologies
Fran Black
Rupert and Cilla Bromley
Olive Gibson
Margaret Golding
Alison Faure
Manu Choudree
Geoff Neden
Approval of the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 14th April was proposed by Richard Tappenden and seconded by David Brown.
2) POLICE REPORT
Warrant Officer Spreeth gave information on local crime statistics over the past month up to and including 14th April to 18th May.
There were 11 Burglaries in this sector:
Business premises x 2 - The Cape Point Routes office had computer equipment stolen and the African Arts Studio was broken into.
House Break in’s – 1 in Hopkirk, 4 Welcome Glen, 1 Glencairn Heights, 1 Wood Way and 2 in Scarborough.
Of this total of 11, five occurred at night.
SAPS have information from a regular caught recently in Scarborough that there are three or four groups involved in these house break in’s and that they are between 19 and 21 years old with 2/3 people in each group.
There was one drug arrest of a Navy gentleman seen doing a drug deal in Da Gama Park.
Malicious Damage to Property – 1 Welcome Glen, 1 Glen Road, 1 Golconda, 1 Fairbairn
Motor Vehicle Theft – 2 Scarborough, 1 Wood Way.
Theft out of Motor Vehicle – 1 Scarborough.
W.O. Spreeth warned about the theft of bags, hand bags and laptops from open windows. “Windows should be closed and if possible blinds drawn. If criminals see an open window they will try to get in.”
Stolen laptops are not staying in local areas; they are going out of the country.
SAPS resources will be drained for the duration of the World Cup
The Police Station upgrade looks like it will take longer than 3 weeks. The main client service centre entrance is closed, please access the station from the side.
The Chair thanked Warrant Officer Spreeth.
3) REPORT FROM LOCAL SECURITY COMPANIES
ADT – Iain Williamson reports an increase over the last few months of stolen laptops and handbags. He asks people to please be proactive and not leave laptops in cars and to set alarms when going out even if “only for a few minutes”.
Chubb – 2 Members present. Report that they had a fairly quite month, although open windows are still a problem. Chubb is concerned out their staff jumping over walls, 2 metres or more is no longer acceptable due to the weight of flak jackets and possible injuries such as broken ankles etc. Master locks can be fitted with a spare carried by the area patrol car or in the case of remote gates, a spare can be housed just inside the gate, again with spare key carried by patrol car. Chubb will supply quotes for these options should they apply to you.
Mach 1 – No patrol car feedback yet as it seems as if everybody is waiting for everybody else to join.
4) CRIME DATA SHEETS AND REPORT BACK FROM NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCHES
The Crime Data Sheets are attached. These have been updated with information supplied by W.O. Spreeth at the meeting.
a. Glencairn
A high speed car chase, as well as baboons.
b. Glencairn Heights
Nothing to report.
c. Glen Road
Nothing to report.
d. Neptune’s Close
A ‘painter’ claimed that he had been sent by his company as he walked into a residential house.
e. Old Glencairn
Nothing to report.
f. Welcome Glen
Baboons made a huge mess overturning bins. Chairperson e-mail the Sub-council Manager and SPM arrived promptly to clear up.
g. Outdoor Network (Beach, vlei and mountain)
Nothing to report.
5) MATTERS ARISING
a. Use of cell phones for information/alerts
Richard Tappenden reminded the meeting of his proposal. As a reminder, no name necessary, just the mobile number and which watch member belongs to, then you will receive alerts only for your watch area as well as a monthly meeting reminder. W.O. Spreeth wants to be on reminders for all sectors.
b. Dedicated Patrol Car in Glencairn Heights
No feedback yet.
6) TOPIC OF INTEREST
Hugo Vaughan of the Wilderness Search and Rescue Organisation (WSAR) presented to the floor:
WSAR operates in the areas beyond where an ambulance can get to.
They assist the lost, injured or ill on mountains and high angles or in swift water or rotor craft.
They are headed in this province by EMS and their operations of which there are approximately 110 – 130 per year, assisting around 300 people annually, are mostly carried out in mountainous terrain.
WSAR can be reached via Metro Control or your local SAPS. Direct number to dial is 021 937 0300 (this is also a good contact number for assistance with BIG accidents).
Typically all of their members have experience in either advanced life support or are medical doctors.
The people they assist are either VERY badly injured or might just need help with walking out of a difficult area.
The bulk of their recent incidents have been dehydration.
WSAR is an organisation of organisations, so the way to join them is firstly to be an outdoor type and then to join or belong to say Hamnet, NSRI, Cape Province Mountain Club, Cape Nature, Table Mountain Rescue, Hi Angle Rescue or Delta Rescue.
How can WSAR help with the 250 000 expected world cup tourists to Cape Point and Boulders? WSAR responds that hopefully if they should stay on board their busses then no harm will come to them. WSAR has use of a helicopter, but in winter the light shuts down at 17h00. There is nothing extra planned for this event.
WSAR does not assist with baboons!
7) OTHER BUSINESS
a. Glen Marine New Watch
Only one resident from this area arrived for the inaugural meeting. Therefore, the new watch set-up has, for the time being, been put on hold.
b. Underage consumption
Concern has arisen regarding sales to underage persons as well as consumption on/near premises. W.O. Spreeth will speak to the Glencairn bottle store management again. He will be putting a strategy together and asks that the public report to him speedily so that SAPS can react immediately, rather than hear about the offense a week later.
c. Spar Gift Voucher
The monthly gift voucher kindly donated by the Glencairn Heights Spar was won by J Mills. The Chair thanked Spar for donating the voucher.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Thursday 17th June 2010 at the Phoenix Hall at 18h30.
Signed on this ………………. day of ……………. 2010 at ……………………………
……………………………………………………
Aliet Pelt
Chairperson
Please help by letting us know
Dear Neighbour,
Apologies for the long break in posting information on this blog. I was away - will try to get on top of it again.
If you want to make a comment to one of the posts on this blog, it is quite easy - So please help us and get involved -
If you want to read the comments on any article that interests you, look at the date line, immediately below the article and double click on the words - “1 Comment” or “2 Comments” etc as the case may be. This will open up the comment thread and you will see the box for adding your comment.
If you want to add a comment to an article not yet commented on - just double click on the date line, where it says “No Comments” - otherwise just send me an email at africoe@iafrica.com. Comments will be reviewed by our editor, before actually appearing on the blog, to prevent spam and offensive material.
Please send any security information to me at africoe@iafrica.com or phone it in to 0217822771 or 0833470453. Your slightest suspicion or concern, could be enough to increase your neighbour’s alertness and prevent a crime. Report suspicious strangers and unusual occurences or activity, no matter how trivial to the 24 hour police number 021 786 8646/7 at Simonstown.
Regards
Steve
Criminals use signs to mark your house.
Dear Neighbour,
FYI
Regards
Geoff
Dear Neighbours,
Thanks to Faye for this mail, it gives us some ideas on what signs to look for on our street when we are being targeted
Please be vigilant when walking dogs/cats, as most of these signs will be on the road or pavement. Some months ago I removed a couple of stones from my driveway because they looked out of place, but they were obviously for a more sinister purpose.
Regards Don
Good evening Don & Ann,
I found this in my e-mails this evening and thought that I would pass it on.
I dont know if this applies to Cape Town
Regards
Faye Redelinghuyd
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Security Briefing for the World Cup
Yesterday afternoon I attended the World Cup security brief held at the Consular section and presented by Mr Aubrey Pieters. Those of you who have attended the security courses at the BHC when you first arrived will be aware of his pedigree and his background as an independent security advisor. It was an interesting brief which was well received by all in the audience.
Due to the large number of Police (SAPS) that will be required to actually police the event, the criminals and the security advisors are aware that the World Cup period is going to be like another holiday period for the criminal fraternity. The SAPS will be concentrating on the areas most frequented by visitors/tourists. These will be at the Football stadiums, the Fan parks, ORT airport, hotels in the cities and the routes to the stadiums. This leaves the criminals to have a free run at the suburbs! The criminals are fully aware of this too. They understand that the reaction time for SAPS to get to an incident will be long - if they come at all.
The crimes that will increase are home invasions, driveway robberies and carjacking at your home.
Home invasions. These are likely to take place when the criminals see a number of cars in driveways of homes. This would indicate that there are a group of friends watching a match who will be distracted. Normally alcohol is involved and there is usually a door open where the guys have been at the BBQ. They will attempt to jump the fence or get into the property and rob everyone of their personnel effects.
Carjackings. No change to the normal brief from Aubrey. Gangs will target women (normally) in a supermarket and inform other gang members who are in the car park waiting to follow you home. The advice is to pay attention to who else turns the same way as you do at junctions. The car tailing you is likely to be 3 or 4 cars back. If you think you are being tailed head to a petrol station or large shopping centre and get out the car and phone for help. Do not try to get home and get in the front gate. Either phone ADT and get them to meet you somewhere or better still phone the Dip Police. They will not be involved in football match security..
Driveway robberies. Be very aware of who or what is in your street or outside your house when you approach it. If somebody is loitering or if you pass a car with one or two occupants apparently sat idly, do not enter your drive.. Always pull up parallel to your drive and open the gate. Never pull up in front of the gate and then open it. That will be the time when you get boxed in by the car full of trouble and you won’t have much time to react. They are then likely to steal what you have on you (wallets, purses, rings, mobile phones, laptops etc) and then shoot off or worst still get you to open the house and go in with you.
For those of you who are going to the games, the trouble you are likely to come across will be either a few drunken yobs looking for a fight or pickpockets. The security agencies are aware that major public gatherings like the World Cup will attract international pickpockets from around the world. These guys are experts and you will not know that it has happened until many hours later. Gents wallets are normally kept in the back right pocket of trousers. Move it. Split your money and cards. Be careful.
Smash and grabs will increase too. Tourists will leave cameras, phones and bags on car seats. Rich pickings for the smash and grab gangs. If you don’t already have the smash and grab film on your car windows go and get it done now. If you can’t afford it, the advice is to drive with your windows down about half an inch. This makes it 4 times harder to smash the window.
For those with children the World Cup is going to be a particularly bad time for child abductions. In South Africa there are 15 abductions/kidnappings every day and they see this as a crime which will get out of hand over the World Cup period. Human trafficking gangs know that the schools are all on holiday over the tournament. They will target shopping malls, cafes, cinemas, public toilets and toy departments in shops. The SA authorities estimate that approx 300,000 Africans will come over the borders for the tournament. The borders will not be able to cope with the surge and checks will be cursory in most cases. Babies will be abducted for scrupulous adoption agencies in Nigeria and the like. Children aged 4-8 will be targeted for the porn industry. Those children around 9 – 13 for prostitution.
Keep an eye on your children! Do not send them off to the toilets alone. Do not let them go to the toy section while you do the rest of your shopping.
Please pass this on to your families.
The Key message is that crime is likely to increase and the response by the Police will be slow. Stay alert and street wise and you should be fine..
Regards
Mick
M P BOYLE
Major
Staff Officer Coordination
British Peace Support Team
(South Africa)
Tel: +27 (0) 12 674 5082
Fax: +27 (0) 12 674 5084
Cell: +27 (0) 83 449 3534
Houses being targeted
Dear Neighbour,
Hi Geoff,
Just a quick message on the signs that houses are being targeted. I live in Cockburn Street and on Sunday morning I found a small pile of stones which were not there the night before. I have 2 dogs and there has been a lot of activity at strange hours the last week or so. The dogs are very alert and wake up at all hours if they hear something. So it seems we are being targeted.Regards
Mark Engelbrecht
COF without sugar - welcome to the Cape of Fire blog
The CAPE OF FIRE (COF) website has been around for several months now and has already drawn hundreds of visitors. Generally the reception to our content has been excellent and we have received much positive feedback.
It seems that CAPE OF FIRE has found a useful niche - providing relevant information to those living in areas of high wildfire risk. Equally important, it has also served as a rallying point for those of us who want to challenge the City, Navy and other landowners for having neglected their responsibilities to the residents, permitting invasive alien plants to spread virtually unchecked, in the South Peninsula, thus creating an extremely dangerous situation to develop around our homes.
WILDFIRE IN GLENCAIRN - Photo by permission of Cape Argus
Following the initiative of the CAPE OF FIRE website, the Glencairn Fire Watch (GFW), a community based pressure group, was formed. The GFW has been putting pressure on the City and also public and private landowners to begin getting their act together and start dealing with their responsibilities. This has resulted in some clearing of overgrown stands already and a growing awareness by the authorities that they are being called to task by our communities to carry out their mandated duties as prescribed by law.
The movement has spread to other South Peninsula communities and through the combined efforts of the Glencairn Fire Watch and the Simonstown Civic Association (STCA), meetings are now being held on a regular basis which will involve City officials, SANParks, the Navy and many other interested parties to specifically address the Fire Risk Situation in the South Peninsula. The first two meetings, chaired by local councillor, Alderman Nicki Holderness have already been held and were very positive. We will be publishing the agendas and minutes of these meetings on these pages. We hope to involve all South Peninsula communities in these important liasion meetings and anyone who represents a community organisation or environmental group would be most welcome to attend. Unfortunately for practical reasons only representatives of organisations or interest groups can be accomodated, not private residents. Interested organisations can contact me at africoe@iafrica.com and I will see that you receive all the necessary information.
So why the Cape of Fire Blog ?
Well the website needs news that is curent and relevant. It is necessary to get feedback and commentary from as wide a base as possible, if the website is not to become static and irrelevant. We are already making changes to CAPE OF FIRE , based updated information and emails from interested people and now feel that posting news and information in a more accesible form on a blog, would compliment the website itself and open up a forum for discussion for fire and alien related topics. So please help us and get involved - if you want to read the comments on any article that interests you, look at the date line, immediately below the article and double click on the words - “1 Comment” or “2 Comments” etc as the case may be. This will open up the comment thread. If you want to add a comment to an article not commented on - just double click on the date line, where it says “No Comments” - otherwise just send me an email at africoe@iafrica.com. Comments will be reviewed by our editor, before actually appearing on the blog, to prevent spam and offensive material.
There will shortly be articles on the moves to set up South Peninsula ”Firewise Communities” and an explanation of what is happening with South Peninsula creating a body of volunteer fire fighters under the auspices of the VWS.
Regards
Steve
Clone gang hits ATMs
Subject: Clone gang hits ATMs
A sophisticated gang has raided the bank accounts of scores of Cape ATM bankers using hi-tech cloning devices and tiny mounted cameras.
According to a police expert, the devices are “professionally made” and include minute digital cameras which watch users enter their codes and four-gigabyte memory cards which record reams of customers’ details. Because of this twin technology, even the integrity of cards containing the so-called “chip” are compromised.
But the devices’ most dangerous attribute is that they are portable, and can be unclipped off ATMs in seconds after just a few hours in place, after which the gangs then download the information, possibly by Bluetooth and replicate the customers’ cards, use their PIN codes and start spending.
One Cape Town woman recently had R16 000 taken from her accounts in eight withdrawals.
Carike Meyer had used both her credit card and debit card, linked to her Standard Bank cheque account, at the Total petrol station ATM next to Somerset Mall before travelling to Durban.
Her accounts were then raided between April 29 and May 3, until she spotted the withdrawals on a statement.
She immediately cancelled her cards and alerted both police and the bank.
Police investigators confirmed to the Cape Argus yesterday that several ATMs in the Somerset West/Strand/Gordon’s Bay area had been targeted and that evidence of the cloning devices had been discovered.
An expert at the police’s Bellville offices explained yesterday that the cloning devices were made so professionally that “it can be impossible for the customer to detect them”.
The devices were stuck to the place where cards are slid into the ATMs, fixed with simple double-sided adhesive tape.
As cards slide into the ATM, they read the card’s information. Simultaneously, a tiny digital camera watches the card-holder punch in the PIN code.
At that stage, the gang most probably keeps a watch at the ATM to monitor how many customers visit.
After just a few hours, or enough client traffic, they remove the device surreptitiously and get to work.
First, they plug the device into a computer, or transmit the file information using Bluetooth. They then manufacture new cards, using the customers’ card details, establish their PIN codes from the camera footage and then start making withdrawals.
Meyer was initially dismayed when told by Standard Bank that they would not reimburse her.
But this changed yesterday after a Cape Argus inquiry and she was paid out in full yesterday afternoon.
Standard Bank spokesman Ross Linstrom confirmed recent cases in the Western Cape and said gangs using the hi-tech devices moved from area to area.
While “every effort is made to secure our sites and create a safe banking platform, the criminal element is rife”, he said.
“The major banks have joined forces to share intelligence and patterns to combat ATM crime and we continue to do so.”
Linstrom said customers’ cases were investigated “on an individual basis” and said Meyer’s initial non-payment was a “misunderstanding”.
“Claims received from our customers are channelled via our branch network and customers are reimbursed within three days of the receipt of the claim,” Linstrom said.
Meyer urged all customers who had lost money to ensure that they were paid out.
BOGUS SARS TAX REFUND MESSAGE
Dear Neighbour,
I apologise for the lack of activity on this blog, while I have been away. Hopefully things will soon be back to normal.
The letter below is clearly bogus and a crude attempted scam - you must never respond to this type of unsolicited message.
Regards
Steve
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