Hi Jacques There was a meeting about two weeks back as these thefts are very common in this area. This was the outcome of the meeting that I sent through to one of the local cycling clubs chairman. There were a few parties present representing various clubs and groups, including Giovanni from the Gauteng Cycling Association. <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> It also seems that the police are really not interested in helping out. We have some assistance however, from a group of reservists who are willing to help out. We chatted with a police reservist by the name of Sardick Davids, and ran through a few ideas of how to deal with the thefts. There was also a fair bit of information that came out regarding what is happening with the bikes once taken, and persons involved. It seems that there is one common person involved in the thefts, which is a guy who wears a black leather jacket and has his hair done in corn rows (those flat braids which lie against the head). There has always been a gun or two involved and knives. The thefts have been concentrated around the top of Hendrick Potgieter and the top of Long Street where these roads meet Ondekkers. Once the theft takes place, it looks like the guys head straight for the Maraisberg Hotel. And one the bikes have been confirmed to have been sold through the porn shop next door. So they think that this is where they hold the bikes (at the hotel) before they are sold off. Apparently it is a very dodgy area. The outcome in terms of moving forward is firstly: Avoid that area f you are cycling alone or in a very small group (two people). If you happen to ride around that area fairly often ? write down the following number. Sardick Davids ? 082 466 7405 This number should be written on a piece of paper and kept somewhere on your body (under the leg elastic of your bib for example). It is no use storing this number on your phone or leaving with your spares, etc. Then should you happen to be attacked, you need to call Sardick immediately and notify him by stopping the first car, or even getting down to the garage down the road etc. THIS NUMBER IS ONLY FOR INCIDENTS WITHIN THIS AREA! Sardick is a part of a team of police RESERVISTS and will have 5 vehicles stationed on different points roughly a kilometer away from this target area. They will be doing so on weekends, during the early hours when these incidents are typically occurring. So once they are notified they will be able to search a very wide area for the perpetrators, and will also target the Maraisberg Hotel immediately in order to try and catch them in the act and in possession of the bike. The aim is to catch the perpetrators not deter them, which is why this approach is being adopted. They have also gone on one or two early morning scouting?s with a victim in order to see whether they could see anyone familiar lurking in those areas. NB ? we need to remember that Sardick and his men are reservists and not full time police. They do this work because they want to help us and not because they are getting paid etc. They all have normal full time jobs like the rest of us, but are trying to help out society in general and catch criminals, like the ones we are dealing with. We need to respect that and they have emphasized that this contact number should only be used for cycling theft incidents in this area and nowhere else. Not for any other reasons either. Hope this has a positive outcome. Regards
