Author: CCC Team

With a massive spike in house-break-in robberies in Cosmo City, extension 10 residents are calling for more police and security visibility in the community.

On the average, the residents claim they are attacked several times in a week and this has been going on for more than two months.

The residents who live in Kyrgyzstan Crescent feel the robbers are out of hand in their street as they call for a 24 hour patrol system in extension 10.

The residents claim that this week, a group of armed robbers broke into a house before they fled the scene in a white runaway car.

“These robberies have been going on for a while,” said one resident who preferred to remain anonymous. “These days it is worse especially along Kyrgyzstan Crescent Street. These break-ins are accompanied by street robberies, which has left many community members without money and cell phones.”

 In the ever-busy streets near the shops and supermarkets, there has been worrisome trend of similar incidents where robbers snatch people’s cell phones and other belongings, jump into a runaway car and disappear.

“They drive around, and when they see people who are walking down the street who are holding their cell phones, they target those individuals,” said a street robbery victim Rebecca Khuzwayo.

According to the victims, a group of two to three people typically drives a car with out-of-state license plates and call to victims walking on the street.

“I think they started following me from the bank,” Khuzwayo said, “They stopped me just behind Cambridge Food. One of them began a conversation about his sad life story. As I was listening to him, the other one moved his hand out of the window and snatched my hand bag and the car quickly drove away. I reported to the police, but I never got my stuff back. I lost my New Huawei P40 and R3000.”

Some of these robbers target jewelery, said Akhona Sibindi. “At some point during the conversation, they are removing the people’s jewelry, showing them other jewelry, putting other pieces of jewelry on these individuals,” Sibindi said. “And what they end up doing is leaving with the people’s jewelry and leaving victims with something that is not real.”

Motorists say they are growing increasingly frustrated at the state of roads in Cosmo City, which are full of dangerous potholes that damage their vehicles.

Drivers who spoke to the Chronicle said they encounter dozens of potholes on their standard daily trips to work. Others are concerned that nothing is being done about potholes, reckoning the problem is only going to get worse.

“I am sick and tired of this pothole situation,” said Joseph Segobela. “I am spending a lot of money to get my car fixed. A few weeks after fixing it, I find myself in the same situation again because of the potholes. Every day I use the same route to and from work. As soon as I get to Cosmo City I am welcomed by the potholes. I cannot avoid the damaged roads because that is my way back home. I think the best thing to save my car is to move out of Cosmo City.”

Other motorists also complained that they repeatedly experience vehicle damages as a result of the hazardous driving conditions brought by potholes and cracked roads.

“Some people end up losing it and driving recklessly due to the potholes,” said Nkosinathi Ndlovu. “I do not know why government and the City of Johannesburg do not deal with this situation for good.”

Major roads which are in a particularly bad state in Cosmo City include South Africa Drive, Central African Republic, Trinidad, Philippines, Guatemala and many others connecting to extensions 6, 2 and 4.