Lower Crossroads residents are concerned about escalating crime in the area, nervous that it might hinder service delivery.
These remarks come after a City of Cape Town refuse collection employee was gunned down while on duty on Tuesday 25 April.
The incident occurred in Phase 2 C. The motive is still unclear.
Ward 35 councillor, Mboniswa Chitha says the community is shocked by this incident.
He says it is the first time such an incident had happened in the area.
“Crime is rife in the area, but, it is the first time a person has been killed like that. The criminals used to rob them (refuse collection workers) of their belongings and leave them,” says Chitha.
He says he is not sure if the services are going to continue as usual or if it will be suspended.
“Since there was a long weekend holiday, I didn’t meet with the City’s officials to discuss the way forward after the incident. But, I am planning to have a meeting with City officials during the week. What is worrying me is that the company that used to collect rubbish in our area has had its contract with the City expire about a month ago. The trucks that were coming were just assisting us since we are waiting for the new contractor,” explains Chitha.
According to Chitha, City workers indicated that the suspects were following them in a van from Samora Machel.
“The (workers) said one of them (suspects) came out of the van and shot the deceased. What puzzled me was that, if they noticed that there was a vehicle that was following them, why didn’t they go straight to the police?” asked Chitha.
He says they don’t want to speculate about the cause of death, because the deceased is not from that area but from Crossroads.
Philippi-East police station spokesperson, Capt Granville Meyer confirmed the and says: “A murder docket was opened after a City of Cape Town employee collecting rubbish was gunned down in Lower Crossroads by an unknown suspect. The motive for killing is unknown.”
No arrests have been made and the case is under investigation.
