Johannesburg residents should be allowed to use boom or electric gates to protect themselves from crime, which remains a national crisis, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said on Tuesday.
He said the DA supports the use of boom gates, where appropriate, and wants a flexible approach to electric gates that are the only alternative for up to one-third of communities applying for road closures.
”Certainly in culs-de-sac, electric gates should be allowed due to cost constraints. The cost of 24-hour security guards is often a prohibitively costly alternative,” Leon said.
He was addressing residents who live in a cul-de-sac at Storms Place in Gallo Manor.
They told him that for six-and-a-half-years they had a motorised security gate at the entrance to their street.
”Before, there had been car hijackings, assaults and dozens of break-ins of houses and cars. With the gate, there were none,” Leon said.
In 2003, when the Johannesburg metro council passed a new policy to regulate boom gates and street closures, the residents applied for permission to close their street. They spent R7 000 on consultants and collected affidavits in favour of the road closure.
Leon said their application was approved with the proviso that they employed a 24-hour security guard at a cost of R15 000 per month (R1 200 per family).
He said because the residents could not afford the cost, they had to remove the motor.
”Within weeks, safety on the street had deteriorated. Strangers entered various properties without permission, and shots were fired in some cases. One home’s plate-glass door was smashed in a house-breaking incident,” Leon said.
Leon said although there has been a decrease in several categories of crime in recent years, the government has failed to meet its own target of reducing contact crimes such as murder, rape and assault by 7% to 10% a year.
Almost 20 000 South Africans are murdered every year — one every 30 minutes.
He said the Johannesburg metro has failed to keep a promise to residents that it would review its policy on road closures and boom gates every year.
”Citizens must be allowed to protect themselves. That is what the DA is fighting for,” Leon said. — Sapa