The infamous “hill” at the Public Transport Interchange in Wynberg – which has been a point of contention among civic associations, neighbourhood watches and Wynberg residents – has finally been cleared by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).
After many years of complaints, meetings and deferments by Prasa to deal with the criminal elements at the site, the situation at the Wynberg station came to a head when violence broke out at the hill on Friday February 23.
In a video that has since gone viral on social media, a group of men on a bakkie ambushed people at the hill and fired several shots. This then led to bloody altercations between what police believe to be rival gangs about drug territory.
Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie from the provincial police office said officers were dispatched to a stabbing incident in Sussex Road at about 1.20pm but the victim had already been taken to a medical facility by ambulance. Two more people were attacked with a panga but police have no record of this because no cases were opened although the first stabbing is being investigated by Wynberg police as an attempted murder case. A video of one of the attacks which show a man bleeding profusely has also gone viral.
Annette Lindeque, acting CEO for Prasa, told Southern Mail that Friday’s violent outbreak prompted the agency to take immediate action.
She said the entire area of Wynberg, not just the site at the hill, had been flagged for vagrancy, drug peddling, prostitution, cable theft, robberies and other crimes and was high on their priority list.
“We had quite a lot of problems with the criminal elements so over the weekend our protection services went in and cleared out all the criminal activity that had happened there at the hill.”
Those who were destitute were offered alternative accommodation and a truck was offered to move their belongings, said Ms Lindeque. She added that the intervention was not just a once off and that they will be guarding the area to stop people from squatting again.
“We will look at the entire area going forward to address the issues that have been ongoing for years,” said Ms Lindeque.
Ward councillor Carmen Siebritz said she had been liaising with Prasa to deal with the criminal elements along the rail line for years and added that the City’s law enforcement agencies and police were unable to address the criminal issues because it was Prasa land and they needed permission from Prasa to act.
“Prasa has been slow to come to the party because this had been an ongoing issue and residents were fed up,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ms Siebritz has made applications to also close three thoroughfares along the Wynberg rain line to combat criminal elements.
Yunus Karriem, chairperson of the Wynberg East Civic Association (WECA) and secretary of Yusufeyyah Masjid, which is located next to the hill, said the issue there had been ongoing since the Covid-19 pandemic when homeless people illegally occupied the piece of Prasa land.
“Those people from the City of Cape Town’s homeless shelter in Strandfontein were bused in and they found themselves in Wynberg and squatted at the hill.
He said over the last four years the demographics have changed and it had become gang ridden with drug elements and acts of criminality.
“It culminated on Friday and rival gangs attacked each other… and we escalated the matter with Prasa and we sent the videos of the attacks. Prasa made a decision based on the best interest of the community and the commuters and they came in to clear the land,” said Mr Karriem.
He said the criminal impact was widespread and included several break-ins and theft at the mosque so the congregation and broader community were satisfied with the outcome of the operation.
“We hope the land will stay vacant and that it is secured in future and Prasa needs to make a decision on what they are going to do with the piece of land.”
Ms Siebritz said the City is not to blame for the illegal squatting at the hill and because people from the Strandfontein Covid-19 campsite were dropped off opposite the William Herbert Sport Complex on Rosmead Avenue.
“The fact that the homeless made their way and settled on the hill next to the Yusufeyyah Masjid was a result of their choice and not the City. Unfortunately, the homeless chose to settle on Prasa’s land, which adversely affected the masjid for years.”
Ms Siebritz said the sub-council had been advising Prasa to apply for an interdict while at the same time applying for the eviction order.
“We have repeatedly offered assistance by offering to be a friend in their application to the court. Sadly, not the interdict or eviction order has been applied for, to this day.”
She said the weekend’s evictions at the hill were illegal and said the squatters have now become a problem for the broader Wynberg.
“Those persons are now further displaced and scattered across Wynberg. Before you knew where they were, now you don’t,” she said.
However, Prasa acting regional manager, Moseli Ntsiki, who visited the site on Monday, said there was no need for an eviction order and insisted it was a “clean-up operation”.
“We were not and we are not evicting anyone. We cleared the area of drug dealing and criminals that were causing problems for the community and for our commuters.
“Friday’s altercations was an escalation of things that had happened in the past so we called in our security to cordon off the area and clear it out. It was a clean-up operation,” he said.
He added that Prasa will continue to secure the area and have plans to lease the piece of land to be used commercially.
