Residents of Hiddingh Avenue in Newlands, Cape Town, have applied to restrict access to the area. Photo: Masi Losi Residents of Hiddingh Avenue in Newlands, Cape Town, have applied to restrict access to the area. Photo: Masi Losi
Residents of an upmarket suburban Cape Town street have submitted plans to gate their community because of crime from local informal traders.
Homeowners at Hiddingh Avenue, near the busy intersection of Rhodes Drive and Newlands Avenue in Newlands, say hawkers working the traffic lights are relieving themselves in their hedgerows and are believed to be behind a spate of robberies.
A letter by Peter Day, chairman of the Hiddingh security committee, details complaints.
“The hedges of the surrounding houses are regularly used for ablutions. We further believe that some of the traders and their associates are responsible for a lot of the crime in the area. The situation has become untenable for the residents,” it says.
Mel Hesse, a resident, has submitted an application to the council with the backing of ward councillor Ian Iversen. A decade ago, residents’ attempts to seal off the street were shot down by the council. A 28-day process to advertise the plans is under way.
“Our inhabitants’ security is of prime importance - when the men leave for work in the week they have to be confident that their families are secure,” he said.
Hesse said plans were afoot to erect fences to block off the road, and they opposed any solution which could provide toilet facilities for the hawkers.
“They’re illegal traders, why should anyone provide facilities for them?,” he said.
But Tawanda Makoni, a Zimbabwean who has sold paintings at the junction for about five years, denied causing trouble.
“We’re just selling our art, we don’t commit crime. We don’t go down the side roads, if we need the toilet we go over to the wooded areas,” he said.
As many as 20 traders work the junction daily.
Temba Tinzi, a Big Issue magazine trader, said he had worked the junction for 13 years and had never experienced problems with crime.
Ward Councillor Ian Iversen supports the plans. “This is a unique situation with Hiddingh, where there is a huge crime factor,” he said.
Aside from blocking off the road, Iversen said he was unsure of what to do with the traders. “I don’t have an answer to the problem. This is a nationwide problem, not an Iversen issue, and it goes way beyond my ward,” he said. Iversen expected the process to take at least six months. - Cape Times