Masi unrest

Date posted: October 25, 2015

The latest round of protest at Masi is as a result of the arrest of a local community leader. There are serious charges laid against him and it is probable (although there is no certainty about this), that he will not be released on bail. His case is being heard on Monday at 10am.

It is highly likely that there will be a repeat of Friday's unrest starting tonight (Sunday 25th) or tomorrow morning.

This probably also means that residents of Masi will not be able to leave the area and that roads e.g Kommetjie road will be blocked.

The initial aim of the protests was to cause “dislocation”, that is to prevent people from going about their normal business. However, this has escalated and there is now seems to be a deliberate intent to damage property in the neighbouring areas, the most vulnerable being Lekkerwater Road and Fish Eagle Park.

People with businesses in either of these locations are advised NOT to try and protect their property as this may hamper the security forces. Rather remove important documents and keep them elsewhere until the area is safe again.

There is also a definite indication that there is a minority of people in Masi driving the unrest. They appear to be well organized, have intelligence and are probably also feeding disinformation to the authorities. They operate in “pods” or “cells” and are well coordinated.

It is very important that an us-or-them situation doesn't prevail. We need to show solidarity with the general community in Masi and to support them as a community. They are, after all, part of a our valley community and we should try to reinforce that.

Security Forces on the scene will do their best to prevent damage to property. They will also try to contain the unrest to the immediate area. There are SAPS units from multiple police stations present and on stand-by as well as other units (Public Order etc etc). The situation is being run from a JOC (Joint operational control) located at Living Hope. Local NW's are all involved and are on the ground in the area a lot of the time. NW's are performing an “eyes and ears” role as well as helping with co-ordination. All NW activity will happen on Channel 1.

We ask residents in Chappies to remain calm but stay alert. Volunteers may be needed and requests for this will be made from time to time.

All residents are requested to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Bear in mind that on top of the normal criminal suspicious activity we are to look for “unusual activity”. Not only in our area, but anything that is noticed in our valley, whilst traveling around for example. This may also be information received from employees. Do not post it on social media but rather use the numbers below.

• Examples of suspicious activity:
  Piles of tyres
  Piles of rocks
  People gathered around in small groups, especially if they are young.

“Normal” criminal activity is to be reported through the usual channels (radio, whatsapp groups, ADT). Any other unusual activity is to be reported directly to Patrick Wright (082 652 7474) or Craig Botha (083 2006482). We will then escalate it to the JOC who will then assimilate and assess the information.

We will also use this channel to report back to our community. Information will be posted out via the normal channels (email, whatsapp, Noordhoek Watch FB) as and when we receive it.

In summary, this is not a short-term thing. We need to be prepared for repeated protests and to join together as a community to work on sorting this out over time.

CPNW