CPNW NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2024

Date posted: December 29, 2024

Dear Neighbours

AGM – Thank you!

A big thank-you to everyone who attended our AGM on 18 November. It was good to see an unusually high turnout and a lot of new faces among the 70 members in attendance.

The minutes will be circulated very shortly and we invite everyone who did not attend to look at them and give some thought to what we are doing and how you could help us become more effective!

Increase in Incidents

Unfortunately, having celebrated a good year with a total of 24 incidents in the area from November 2023 to November 2024, we have since seen a concerning surge in crime, particularly related to thefts out of motor vehicles, as well as opportunistic crime in the Beach and Mountain Road areas. Recent incidents include the following:

Thefts from motor vehicles:

• 18/11/2024: Two cars in the Beach parking area were broken into between 18h10 when the car guards left for the day and around 19h00 when the owners returned to their cars. In one case a car door was opened and groceries were stolen; in the other case the boot was forced open and clothing was taken.


• 31/11/2024: A car parked in Protea Rd was broken into and goods stolen at around 21h45, possibly associated with car-remote jamming. It seems that there was a suspicious vehicle in the area at the time, identified as a white, single cab bakkie with a CY registration. The vehicles registration has now been flagged on our camera system.


• 01/12/2024: In another jamming incident, a vehicle parked on the Main Rd side of the Common was broken into and a laptop was stolen between 14h00 and 16h30 in the afternoon.


• 15/12/2024: A car parked in Pine Street, outside the brewery/restaurant complex, had its boot broken into and a bag containing a wallet, passports and other valuables taken between 18h00 and 20h00.


• 18/12/2024: A handbag was stolen from the cab of a bakkie parked on the southwestern corner of the Common at about 17h00. It seems the perpetrator climbed in through the back of the vehicle and accessed the cab via a sliding window. The discarded handbag with its contents missing was later found on the Spook Alley horse path.

There was also a vandalism incident involving the cutting of a cable at Monkey Valley in the early afternoon of 28 November. This may have been in preparation for a burglary, but the perpetrator (who has previously been arrested for crimes in the area) was identified leaving the area, and SAPS have been informed.

A theft of construction tools and machinery from a house in Mountain Rd occurred in the morning during the brief time the occupant was doing a school-run. The fact that the perpetrator clearly knew the whereabouts of the tools and had been observing the house, pointing to a possible suspect. We have supplied additional camera footage to the SAPS officer working on this case and we believe an arrest is likely.

Finally, quick action by officer Maseti resulted in the retrieval of a bicycle stolen around 06h00 from a house in Beach Rd. The perpetrator was caught by the bicycle owner who declined to press charges.

Beach Car Guards

With regard to the car break-ins, we are pleased to announce significant progress in securing regular and reliable car-guards at the beach park lot. The presence of car guards had become somewhat haphazard as the general decline in carrying cash has meant fewer tips for the guards, and their regular presence was becoming unviable. This was also providing an opening for less-reliable characters to step in and act as guards.

As the existing guards were also unable to stay beyond 18h00, we have arranged for a third guard, who is well-known to members of our community, to be on duty from 18h00 to 20h00.

The guards have now been issued with cards bearing a CPNW endorsement, their names and photographs and a QR Code that can be scanned to tip them using app-based payment methods such as Snapscan, Zappa, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, etc. We will also be putting up signage to indicate our support for car-guards Marlon Josephs, Mario Constant and Paul Nkatha. We would be grateful if everyone could show your support, particularly on the cooler days when the beach is less crowded.

We are also very grateful to Ramos at the Team House and the Wibernet Team who have arranged Wi-Fi access for the guards so they can report any concerns, and to the Buzzer Team who have enabled the guards to use the Buzzer App for emergencies.  We have also put up a page on the CPNW website where members can make donations to the car guards.

Take Precautions!

So, whilst we can be more confident about security in the beach parking lot, other popular areas are increasingly being targeted, and there is clearly some criminal surveillance and jamming taking place.

The holiday season will no doubt bring with it many more potential victims. Although we have steadily increased our camera surveillance of parking areas, this is seldom much use until after the fact.

We therefore urge everyone – especially those involved with guesthouses, pubs and restaurants – to remind visitors not to leave valuable in cars and to be especially careful of jamming.

Please also report to the ADT and Deep Blue patrol officers if you notice any suspicious individuals or vehicles loitering near parking areas.

Looking back… and Looking Forward.

We thus come to the end of the year with what is probably a typical “mixed bag” of results for our country! We note what we believe is considerable success, and are confident of what we need to do going forward, but there are worrying signs warning of what we are likely to face if we lose our steam.

So, we offer heartfelt thanks to everyone in our neighbourhood for what you contribute to making this a wonderful community! We particularly thank our volunteers, everyone who donates via payments to your security donor or spontaneous contributions, (most recently a R2000.00 “Yearly Donation”  from someone we have not been able to trace – thank you!!), our AR officers and teams, SAPS, Law Enforcement and other services, as well as everyone else who gives that little bit extra to keep our home safe for everyone!

Wishing you all a lovely festive season and a wonderful 2025!

The CPNW Team.