Well so much for the employee's right to work in a safe environment. Surely the police should be patroling that stetch of road as a matter of course because of the stone throwing incidents! Two weeks of a "better police presence" means nothing if the contract is a year or two long. The police presence should be an ongoing thing.

These teenages, once caught should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the adult law - they are committing adult crimes and should therefore be treated as such.

Regards
Nikki

By Karen Breytenbach

The engineering firm working on the N2 near Cape Town International Airport will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to brainstorm a solution to a worsening onslaught by armed teenaged thugs. Martin & East has been struck by juvenile criminals in 10 separate incidents of theft in the last month, including five violent attacks on its employees. Between January and October the company experienced 37 incidents of crime.

The contractor decided to stop working at night because its employees became too scared to work in the dark. They are now working at weekends, exacerbating traffic congestion. On Monday, Freddie Zimri, the contractor's traffic manager, was attacked by four youths armed with pangas and golf clubs. One smacked him on the legs with a club and, as he fell, the others robbed him of his shoes, cellphone and wallet. It happened near the Borcherds Quarry footbridge at 3pm, in broad daylight, as cars were driving past.

Zimri was in pain on Tuesday morning and was taken for x-rays to determine whether any bones had been fractured. On Sunday another employee, Kelly Maree, was accosted at the Vanguard Drive turnoff by five teenagers armed with knives and sticks. He managed to flee when two colleagues came to his aid. Three other employees, including a woman and an independent contractor, were robbed at knifepoint or gunpoint in the last month.

In each case a gang of armed teenagers fled into the nearby maze of shacks through holes in the roadside fence. No arrests have yet been made. From the start of the company's contract with the provincial government in January, up to the beginning of October, it has been robbed of equipment worth R300 000 and six employees have been held up by robbers. After the Cape Times reported on it, the company's engineers said they saw an increased police presence for about two weeks between Vanguard Drive and Borcherds Quarry. But since then the situation has worsened, said contract manager Justin Spreckley.

"As we feared, things are escalating. It started with petty crimes, but now it has developed into full-blown attacks," he said. Another major concern was cable theft from the concrete holes at the roadside, where street lamps are supposed to be erected."They are slowly but surely ensuring there's no light. They are generally degrading the infrastructure," said Spreckley. This despite a promise by the police to up their visibility on the highway after a spate of stone throwings earlier this year. One plus was that the firm had developed a good relationship with the police along the N2."Last week they were here in ten minutes when we reported that one of our bakkies had been broken into. They also promised to check up on us more often," said one employee. Police spokesperson Billy Jones said the N2 was a priority for the Flying Squad, Provincial Traffic and Metro Police. Gugulethu Station Commissioner Darius van der Ross had made personal contact with Martin & East site manager Eitner Truter, and they were always welcome to phone him on his cellphone, Jones said.Van der Ross would report any incidents at a weekly N2 priority meeting. "If we see an escalation, we can shift our focus," said Jones.

This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on November 08, 2006