Fransesco Damota Lopes, 92, has lived in The Hill, southern Johannesburg, for 39 years but he only experienced his very first crime incident two weeks ago.
Lopes told Sowetan that robbers cut the electric fence he built in 1983 with his own hands.
“As they cut the fence, security guards responded from the neighbourhood. They chased them and almost caught them. It was the very first time I experienced crime since I came here. I have never had any problems here,” he said.
Lopes’ home is just 80 metres away from the house in which 25 cash-in-transit robbers exchanged gunfire with police, leading into eight of them dying on Monday.
On the day, he was taking his afternoon walk as usual, a habit of 72 years. But he took a different route and that spared his life as he watched the gunfight from the distance.
Despite witnessing the crime, Lopes said he will not go anywhere. “I’m not scared. I will still do the walk. I do it twice a day. I don’t think the place is unsafe. I’m not going anywhere. I have lived here too long,” he said.
Lopes is one of few people who still feel safe living in The Hill.
A man who identified himself as Steve, and is one of security officers guarding the neighbourhood, said the area is extremely dangerous. He said there are about two cellphone and wallet muggings a day and one house break-in every third day in the area.
He added that there were at least five car hijackings per week.
According to police statistics, from April to June last year, Moffatview police station recorded 119 incidents of car hijackings, house robbery and non-residential robbery. This is more than double the number of incidents (52) reported in the same period the previous year.
Steve attributed the decay of the neighbourhood to changes in property ownership patterns.
“Properties have been changing hands without going to the market. People buy houses here but you never see the 'For Sale' signs. You simply see new neighbours coming in. The first thing they do is to build high walls. After that, they build rental units and the next thing you have 20 new people living on the property.
“That has created problems to us as you can never know who is your real neighbour and who is the landlord next door,” said Steve.
But local estate agent Dennis Mulumba said The Hill market is stable.
“We don’t put the For Sale signs because once you do so, all the illegal estate agents will knock at your door saying they have a cash buyer...We are saving the peace of those living in that property,” Mulumba said.
He said The Hill is attracting property investors who want to buy property not to live in them but to make profit
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