Police in Gqeberha have activated a Vispol Task Team to proactively police Theesecombe and Kragga Kamma following a recent spate of armed robberies on smallholdings in the areas.
SAPS spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, says the team was activated a week ago and has teamed up with various private security companies and the surrounding farming community with the aim of working together.
She says they operate at night by setting up vehicle checkpoints, and conduct stops and searches on cars found travelling late.
Naidu says a meeting was scheduled between SAPS, the security companies and the Theesecombe neighbourhood watch on Tuesday, to find further proactive solutions in curbing the house robberies in the area.
She says residents are once again urged to take the necessary precautions in safeguarding their homes which are often isolated by the dense vegetation and trees, as they believe some suspects are on foot.
At the weekend, police reported that a 51-year-old mother was shot at and her 12-year-old daughter threatened with a firearm after two suspects ransacked their house in Quarry Lane.
This was the third recent robbery in the area, and the second, where shots were fired.
Last Saturday, a family was also targeted by brazen robbers wearing balaclavas who fired a shot shattering a sliding door.
The men stole a .38 revolver and valuable jewellery made from precious stones.
In some of the home invasions, residents were tied up whilst robbers would ransack their homes for valuable goods.
No arrests have yet been made in these robberies.
