Located just seven kilometres away from Cape Town CBD, Brooklyn is a hodgepodge of businesses from bric-brac shops, hairdressers to car dealers. Satellite dishes jut along the side of rundown flats while newer façades are a promise of renewal.
Sex workers ply their trade on busy Koeberg Road while many migrants and asylum seekers have moved into the area and opened grocery stores, nightclubs and restaurants which offer a mix from pan-African food to shisanyamas.
And when night falls, drug runners join the prostitutes to do business on the busy stretch.
Crime statistics released on Friday showed that commercial crimes had increased by 18%, shoplifting and other serious crimes both recording 9.9% increases between October and December.
Brooklyn falls under Milnerton police station which featured among the country’s top 30 stations for commercial crime, shoplifting and “other serious crimes”.
Brooklyn residents are concerned about the escalating crime in the area.
Resident Fay Vogel has lived in the area for a long time. She is suspicious of the increase of informal businesses and believes they might have something to do with the suburb’s decline.
She said there has been increased crime as more informal businesses, including braai strands, set up shop.
“I noticed one meat stand and then others popped up, we reported to the councillor but nothing happened.
“All the departments and law enforcement agencies we approached didn’t assist us. There was a time when the stands were confiscated but after a day or two they back in full swing, they have broken the by-laws so many times.
“We pointed out the problem with the main road in 2019. The stands have brought loitering and people sit on the pavement sipping alcohol and drug dealing.”
Fay stated that everyone was turning a blind eye while Brooklyn’s property value depreciates.
“We bought the house for R190 000 (long ago) and now it’s worth R2.5 million but we will never get that from this house, not with the crime in the area.
“This got me questioning the City is turning a blind eye so that people get tired and sell their homes for next to nothing just to get out of the area and then fix the suburb up like the gentrification of Woodstock.”
She told the Weekend Argus they also had a problem with illegal dumping.
“We clean up regularly, but then the very next day it looks like we didn’t do anything.
“I don’t feel safe at all in this place. I don’t walk at night, when criminals are able to rob people during the day.
“The most common crimes are robberies, car break-ins and housebreaking but lately we’ve had shootings, two weeks ago they shot someone and earlier this month there was a shooting in the main road.
“We would like to ask the government to bring in more resources and to make sure that we are safe. Clean up Brooklyn, get rid of the drugs and criminals.”
Another resident Clara Hugo explained she had been living in Brooklyn for more than 27 years and she had not seen any positive change.
“Since they brought in drugs here, this place has gone really bad, people stealing, children turning into tik addicts and committing crimes, they drop out of school from a young age.
“We can’t do anything about all the crime, drugs and prostitution. Those girls also get robbed, they are not safe, they have to defend themselves from clients who refuse to pay or just robbers.”
Congolese salon owner Natalie Muswamba said business owners in the area were not immune to crime.
“I lock all the doors and windows after 6pm and when I’m done, I wait for an e-hailing car driver while I’m inside the shop. I only unlock when he tells me he has arrived.
“We need more police visibility because we might lose clients due to the high crime in Brooklyn. People just walk into the salon to sell different kinds of stuff and it is scary sometimes to be alone in the shop.”
Chairperson of Brooklyn, Ysterplaat and Rugby Residents’ Association (BYRRA), Justin Kumlehn, said the area faced multiple challenges.
“Yes, there is a shortage of SAPS in the area and we would like more visibility. I can’t say it is the council’s fault as the main road is now cleaned three times a day.
“The problem is with the residents and the sad reality is that, I don’t want this to come out the wrong way, but Brooklyn is now made up of probably 80 percent of foreign nationals and we struggle a lot with illegal dumping especially near the shops.”
He added they tried the camera initiative where they installed 10 cameras but then due to lack of funding the project was halted.
“We have tried to give the area a facelift by placing tyres where there was illegal dumping. Less than five people showed up for the cleaning.”
Weekend Argus