Dear Property Owners and Interested Parties

Welcome to our May newsletter. As the first signs of winter settle over the neighborhood, our teams have been busier, working to ensure our community remains safe, clean, and well-maintained. While the change in season brings its own set of challenges, particularly regarding infrastructure and public space management, we remain committed to being your eyes and ears on the ground. 

Thank you for your continued vigilance and support as we work together to keep our community resilient. 

General Incidents Update

Our team remained highly active throughout April, ensuring the safety and well-being of the community. We observed a notable uptick in activity this month, with a total of 12 recorded incidents, doubling the 6 incidents reported in March. The increase in volume reflects both a busier period for the neighborhood and our team's heightened vigilance in proactive monitoring.

Ambulance attending to a person who required medical attention along Hope Street.

LGCID public safety officers attending to a motor vehicle accident along Mill Street nearest corner Brandweer Street.

City of Cape Town Update

It was a busy month for service requests! In April, we logged 56 C3 requests as we continue to advocate for better maintenance in our neighborhood. Throughout the reporting period, 13 of our service requests were successfully resolved this month. The majority of our requests this month were directed to the Roads and Infrastructure department

We had a notable incident where a vehicle became stuck due to a road defect. A huge thank you to the Road Infrastructure Management (RIM) team for their swift assistance in resolving the situation. We are noticing an increase in road defects, primarily linked to previous water reinstatements. We are documenting these carefully to ensure the City addresses the root causes. 

Vehicle stuck in the road along Roeland Street nearest corner Harrington Steet.

Roads and Infrastructure Management team attending to the hole in the road.

Our team is working daily to follow up on all outstanding matters to ensure our streets and services remain in top shape. We know how important it is for you to stay in the loop. We are currently working on improving our feedback loop to ensure residents receive timely updates. More information regarding service delivery matters presented to the CID will be shared with you in due course.

Water and sanitation department attending to a water leak along Wandel Street nearest corner Vrede Street. 

 

You can contact us on WhatsApp to report any service delivery issues you see in the Lower Gardens CID. This is the most effective way in assisting us address outstanding service delivery concerns in the neighbourhood. 

Our dedicated Law Enforcement officer has been exceptionally active this month! Working hand-in-hand with our Public Safety team, our dedicated officer has been addressing the specific concerns raised by Lower Gardens stakeholders This month, we saw the highest level of enforcement activity to date. General fines issued saw a significant increase:

• Section 56 Notices: Increased from 101 to 165.
• Section 341 Notices: Increased from 268 to 342.

While these numbers are high, they reflect our commitment to maintaining order and safety within our community. Whether it's traffic violations or general offences, we are working hard to ensure our neighborhood remains a high-quality environment for everyone.

Joint operation between LGCID public safety team and Ward 77 NSO's along Mill Street nearest corner Brandweer Street.

 
Public Safety Update

In April, we recorded 497 public space interventions, an increase from 464 the previous month. This rise is largely due to the approaching winter season; as the weather turns, we are noticing more individuals seeking shelter and "rough sleeping" within our area. Our team remains committed to managing these public spaces with a balance of firmness and care, ensuring our streets remain safe and accessible for everyone.

Our team continues to conduct targeted stop and search operations to remove risks from our streets. 18 searches were carried out this month and are proving highly effective. Since they began, our team has confiscated various dangerous items, including knives, toy guns, and other prohibited objects. Removing these items is a critical step in preventing crime before it happens.

 

Items confiscated by the public safety team as a result of stop and search operations.

This past month, our Public Safety team took significant strides in keeping our neighborhood secure. In a successful joint initiative, we teamed up with the City of Cape Town’s Neighborhood Safety Officers (NSOs) to conduct a series of high-visibility policing (VISPOL) exercises throughout the area. The primary goal of these operations was to maintain a proactive presence. Our joint teams were active on the ground, focusing on increasing foot and vehicle patrols to deter criminal activity through consistent visibility and conducting routine stops to ensure compliance and identify suspicious behavior within the precinct.

A key highlight of the April operations was the successful intervention at the Mill Street Bridge. Working alongside the NSOs, we were able to clear a restricted area where individuals had been sleeping. The collaboration with the CoCT NSOs has proven to be an invaluable asset to our safety strategy. By pooling resources and authority, we are able to address community concerns more effectively. We would like to thank the community for your ongoing vigilance and the CoCT NSOs for their professional support in keeping our streets orderly and safe.

Ward 77 Neighbourhood Safety Officers assisting with illegal trespassing in a room under Mill Street bridge. 

We have seen an uptick in reported incidents, which rose from 5 to 8 this past month. We are currently seeing a rise in Theft Out of Motor Vehicles with criminals targeting vehicles from outside of Cape Town. It appears opportunistic individuals are taking chances where they perceive a higher likelihood of finding valuables. To any stakeholders who are running AirBnbs and businesses, and residents with visitors outside of Cape Town please ensure that your guest don't have bags, electronics or items of any value visible. From a residential perspective please double-check that your residential gates are fully closed and properly locked. In the instance that they are not, our public officers will monitor until these have been successfully addressed. 

The postings of our officers are constantly changing to meet these demands. Crime shifts and we ask that when you report incidents please be as specific as possible giving the time when the incident happened and a description of the suspect if possible.

Notable Incidents

Uber driver robbed.

LGCID public officer was approached on Vrede Street informing him that he was robbed. A man and a woman approached his car with the woman opening the passanger door taking his wallet (containing his drivers licence and cash) and the man opened the drivers side of the door taking his cellphone. The victim went SAPS to open a case.

 Trespassing on previously evicted property. 

Public officers were informed that one of the staff members working on the construction site was caught in possession of an angle grinder. CID Control room assisted in contacting SAPS.

Cleaning & Maintenance Update

Our street cleaning operations continue, though illegal dumping remains a persistent challenge.  We observed a decrease in the volume of waste removed, with bags collected dropping from 1433 to 1072. While the rain has disrupted some of our standard sweeping routines, it has allowed us to prioritise our stormwater drain clearing.

We are pleased to share that our team has successfully hand-cleaned all 157 stormwater drains in the area, ensuring we are prepared for the winter rains. A few specific drains require specialised suction equipment; we are currently working with the City of Cape Town to have these addressed.

As we head into the wetter months, our winter programme will shift focus. To be as effective as possible, we will move away from daily sweeping in favour of targeted interventions. This includes detailed clearing of servitudes and ongoing drain maintenance to prevent flooding.

Help us stay ahead of the weather and please report any blocked drains via our WhatsApp channel. Our team will intervene where possible and ensure any issues requiring City suction equipment are logged promptly.

Social Services Update 

Our Work Readiness Team continues to provide essential support to both our cleaning and Parks & Recreation teams.  In April, the Work Readiness team collected 94 bags, compared to 110 bags the previous month. This falls in line with the minor challenges faced by the cleaning team. Assistance was also provided in the revitalisation work ongoing at Maynard Park.

Before plastics were removed off the fence along Mill Street nearest corner Maynard Street.

After plastics were removed off the fence along Mill Street nearest corner Maynard Street.

Our Social Services team has increased their outreach efforts this month. Follow-ups with clients increased from 53 in March to 69 in April. Despite these increased touchpoints, only one client accepted a shelter option this month. We continue to find that encouraging individuals to move off the street remains a complex and difficult task. As the cold weather approaches, we will be intensifying our engagements on the street. This will be a collaborative effort between our Social Services and Public Safety teams to ensure we are offering support to the vulnerable while maintaining the order of public spaces.

Social services interactions in the month of April 2026

Assistance with ID applications in the month of April 2026.

Over the month, through dedicated outreach and administrative support, the team successfully assisted 6 individuals in receiving their official IDs. This represents a major leap in impact, moving from 0 successful cases in March to a consistent stream of results in April.

Parks Recreation Update

Emphasis this month was placed on the continued improvement of Maynard Park. Our team has been busy with "structural cleaning" to prepare the space for a better aesthetic. Over the month the team has removed old vegetable boxes and the remains of an old foundation to open up the space. By doing so, the team has taken advantage of the recent rains and started replanting grass using "plugs" or shoots taken from Tuin Plein Park.

Grass from Tuin Plein park being planted in Maynard Park in an effort to address soil eroded sections..

Announcements

Bin Day

The public safety team requests that all property owners take their bins out on the day of refuse collection. It has been observed that several property owners place their 240-litre wheelie bins on the street the night before collection. According to the City of Cape Town (COCT) Refuse Removal Contract, bins should only be placed outside on the day of collection. This non-compliance:

• Provides gathering points for vagrants.

• Encourages scavenging behaviour (as per the image attached)

• Increases the risk of theft or misuse of refuse bins for criminal activities.

• Negatively impacts the cleanliness and safety of the precinct.
  

Your assistance in complying is highly appreciated.

 Sub-Council 16 Notices

As part of our commitment to keeping the community informed, we would like to highlight several matters currently before Subcouncil 16 that require public awareness or formal comment. Public participation is a vital tool for ensuring that the development of the Gardens and Lower Gardens area aligns with the needs of its residents and businesses. They can be found on the following links:

• Proposed Renewal of Lease of Portion of City Land, Being ERF 95583 Cape Town, Bounded by Hope Street, Wandel Street and Vrede Street.

• SC 16 Budget 2026/27 meeting - Presentation.
  

Interactive Lower Gardens CID Dashboard

We are happy to launch our new interactive dashboard, providing full transparency into all incidents and logs recorded by the CID since inception.

This platform helps us track trends and shares insight into what directly informs our daily operations. Going forward, this will be our primary tool for weekly incident reporting. Our goal is to keep you better informed with real-time insights into our neighborhood's safety and maintenance. View the live data here: https://stats.lowergardenscid.co.za/

Your Eyes, Our Impact: See it, Share it

As we work to establish Lower Gardens as the best inner-city suburb in South Africa, we want to ensure our efforts are measured by clear data, not just opinion. The performance of the board, our operations team, and all our suppliers will be judged on concrete evidence of continued improvement across the precinct.

To make this possible, we need your active participation. Your feedback and reporting are vital. We ask that you report all incidents, report all crimes with SAPS and provide case numbers, log all service delivery requests, and provide constant feedback on the success of our operations. You can do this by calling our LGCID control room, which is operated 24/7, on 087 330 2177. Alternatively, you can contact us via our website at LGCID reporting.

We are happy to share that you use Whatsapp to report incidents via our LGCID Connect channel. This is our primary communication channel for staying updated on community matters and logging incidents directly to our control room. Please take note that should you WhatsApp call the Control Room, it will be declined and you will receive a call from our Control Room on 087 330 2177

Contact Us
For general inquiries, suggestions, or to report an issue, please contact us at:

Email: cidmanager@lowergardenscid.co.za
Office Phone: 087 330 2177
Website: www.lowergardenscid.co.za
Physical Address: Lower Gardens City Improvement, Gardens, Cape Town, Western Cape, 8001, South Africa 

Lower Gardens City Improvement District