A 100 years ago, Stellenbosch was a tightly policed town with the strangest transgressions one could think of. For example, riding a bicycle without a license plate resulted in a fine of five shillings (which was a lot of money at the time).
In the 1960s, crime began to pick up when Stellenbosch University (SU) had about 6000 students as they started getting richer and more mobile. This coincided with a growing drinking culture and an increase in the amount of drunk driving incidents.
This is according to SU history lecturer, Albert Grundligh who also described the general perception towards crime at the time as “a broken window argument that if you stop small crime, there won’t be any bigger crime”.
Nowadays, students and residents are prone to a wide range of criminal activities including burglary, sexual assault, pickpocketing, hijacking and muggings.
Captain Natalie Martin, communications officer at the Stellenbosch police station, explained that crime rates in Stellenbosch fluctuates.
She specified that the main problem lies in property related crime. “Our crime differs every month, but we do have a problem with property related crimes meaning theft out of motor vehicles, and house break-ins.”
A campus security officer looks over the Rooiplein during night patrol on the SU premises. PHOTO: Teboho Mokonyana.
The police department keeps a close relationship with the university’s management especially crimes committed on campus. Martin explained that common robbery (such as being robbed for a cellphone) is a problem on the SU campus.
Martin explained that these crimes are hard to pin down because of how subconscious they are, how fast they happen and are frequent as a result. According to the latest official South African crime statistics, common robberies have increased by 10.8% between March 2016 and March 2017.
Cheron Randall (23), a BComm honours student in Information Systems Management, explained that her cellphone was stolen out of her bag during a night out. “I wanted to get a hold of my friends and I decided to take a small bag, so my phone doesn’t get stolen. I kept checking the bag to make sure it was there and at some point it wasn’t there.”
Randall said that her phone quickly went off the radar as she searched for it on “Find my iPhone” that night and a few days afterwards. She agreed that such crimes are indeed hard to track because it happened to her discreetly and she was not able to track it.
The perception that SU’s students have about security on campus varies from one to another. While some say that they do feel safe when they see security officers on campus, some said that they do not always feel that way.
Sphiwo Mchunu (23), a marketing management student, said that “it’s safe during the day but at night you feel unsafe. Sometimes you must study at night and there is a campus security service and you can call them to be safe but if you’re a guy, they are not always willing to help. So sometimes you just give up on it and carry on.”
Tamlyn February (19), a BA Humanities student explained that she was walking on Merriman Street after a night out with her friend. After asking a campus security officer on patrol to drive them home on Victoria Street for their safety, they were denied help.
February did explain however, that she is pleased with the presence of security guards on campus but feels that their services are inconsistent.
A campus security officer listens out on his radio for updates from his colleagues on safety in other parts of the SU campus. PHOTO: Teboho Mokonyana
“We really are doing everything we can to assist everybody no matter their needs or emergencies may be with the minimum resources that we have. It is our duty to keep you safe, so we really are trying to help and take charge,” added Captain Martin.