Download PDFResidents of Dobsonville Extensions 4 and 2, Soweto, have raised concerns about rising crime since the beginning of winter. In Ext 4, several areas have become hotspots for muggings. In Ext 2, the hotspot is at the grounds across the road in Ext 2 are another hotspot for muggings.
The residents of Ext 4, particularly in the area called Richmond, are also concerned. It is a small portion of Ext 4 with two entrances, which also serve as exits.
Inside these two entrances, there are several streets. Most of the time, the streets are quiet, but there is a lot of movement in terms of cars.
Now the community is facing a new issue of hijacking. In August alone, the community had three cases. In two cases, the perpetrators failed in their plans.
In one case, the perpetrators successfully hijacked and kidnapped a couple in their car. They drove them to Protea Glen and then robbed them. They took their phones and money. The incident was reported on the community group at the same time it took place, and the Vuvuzela was sounded for the community to come out. As the community tried to chase after the car, they could not catch it, but the message was sent to all the groups to try and find them.
A report later came from the family: “Our brother and his girlfriend are OK. We would love to thank the community for their response. When they are needed for help, please continue to help others.”
A week after this incident, there was another mugging. Two boys mugged a schoolboy who was on his way to school.
The two muggers stopped the schoolboy and took his phone. They ran separately, trying to confuse the women exercising in the grounds. The women and their instructor suspected that the boys had been running away from a crime scene.
They called the boys. While this was taking place, a man passing by in a car saw what was happening, picked up the boy, and brought him to the grounds. The women were trying to get information from the two boys about why they were running when the boy arrived with the man and said, “They’re taking my phone.”
The boy who had stopped the schoolboy for his phone answered, “I don’t have a phone on me. You can search me.”
The community took matters into their own hands and beat the boys until they revealed where they had thrown the phone while running away.
Mama Simelane said: “When we saw those boys running, we knew something was up. We had to intervene as the community and try to get the truth out of these boys. Little did we know they had just mugged a young boy going to school, and they were also young. As mothers, we cry for our children. What went wrong?”
A community meeting was called to discuss boom gates to protect the community in Dobsonville Richmond, Ext 4. The issue of a patrolling system was also raised at the meeting.
Patrollers were chosen at the meeting, while others volunteered. The community will have to pay R50 per household for the patrollers.
The boom gate is still on hold because there are many channels that the community must go through before they can have them. Other community members volunteered to get more information about the procedures that need to be followed to obtain the boom gates.
Mma Sizakele said: “We are happy with the results of the meeting, but the issue of boom gates must be our main focus because we need safety as a community.”
Tate Mjalifa said: “The community has been crying about crime since the winter started. Now we welcome summer, but there is still more crime than we expected as a community. We have cars that are going around in our community at night, waiting for their targets. We need to fight this together as a community.”
The community agreed on a follow-up meeting where they will discuss the boom gates once they have more information. The meeting will be announced on the community group.
This article is an opinion piece submitted on 20 September 2026. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of Karibu! Online or Khanya College. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
