Your Guide to a Safer, Cleaner Lower Gardens: Reporting Incidents to the LGCID Control Room

Welcome to the launch of Lower Gardens City Improvement District (LGCID). LGCID is funded by property owners to provide essential services that go beyond what the City of Cape Town offers. Our mission is to address issues like vagrancy, illegal structures, and poorly maintained public spaces, making our community safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable for everyone.  

LGCID Control Room is your direct line to report incidents and help us improve our neighbourhood.

CID Control Room (24/7): 087 330 2177 

Why Your Reports Matter

Your active participation is crucial to the LGCID's success. By reporting incidents, you help us:

• Enhance Public Safety: Address crime, suspicious activities, and hazardous conditions.
• Improve Cleaning & Maintenance: Tackle illegal dumping, graffiti, and infrastructure issues.
• Maintain Parks & Recreation: Ensure our green spaces are clean and well-kept.
• Support Social Services: Assist vulnerable individuals and manage issues related to homelessness.  

Every report helps us identify trends, allocate resources effectively, and implement proactive solutions. We are committed to providing feedback on your reports, as we know that without it, community engagement can decline.  

What to Report to the 087 330 2177 CID Control Room

You can report any event or situation within the Lower Gardens CID area that requires attention, intervention, or reporting. This includes both emergencies and non-emergency observations.

Common incidents to report include:

• Public Safety: Suspicious persons/activities, theft, assault, public disturbances, illegal structures, open fires, gas leaks, electrical emergencies, fallen trees, or vehicle incidents.  
• Cleaning & Maintenance: Illegal dumping, overflowing bins, general litter, graffiti, broken streetlights, damaged pavements, burst pipes, or overgrown vegetation.  
• Parks & Recreation: Damage to park infrastructure, unmaintained green spaces, or illegal activities in parks.  
• Social Services: Individuals sleeping in public spaces, illegal homeless structures, or individuals requiring social assistance.  

How to Report an Incident

We offer multiple channels over a 6 month phased implementation to make reporting easy and efficient:

Phase 1: Available from 1st August 2025

• Primary Contact: Call 087 330 2177 CID Control Room: This is the fastest and most recommended method for all incidents, especially urgent ones.
• Email: Send detailed descriptions and attachments (like photos) for non-urgent matters to our dedicated CID Control Room email address cidcontrol@lowergardenscid.co.za.

Phase 2: Available from 1st September 2025

• WhatsApp (No WhatsApp calls): WhatsApp for easier reporting, including geo-location and photo uploads. (Please note that WhatsApp calls cannot be answered, but will result in a missed call that the CID Control Room operator can call back.)
  

Phase 3: Available Q1 2026

• CCTV Network: Roll out of suburb wide CCTV camera network, confirming position and time of incidents, for easy reporting and review of CCTV camera footage.

What Information to Provide When Reporting

To help us respond quickly and effectively, please provide the following factual and detailed information:

• What happened? (e.g., "Illegal dumping of furniture")
• Where exactly? (Specific address or nearest intersection, e.g., "Corner of Hope Street and Mill Street"). 
• When did it happen? (Date and time of incident or when you observed it)
• Who is involved? (Descriptions of individuals, vehicles, if applicable)
• Any immediate actions taken? (e.g., "I moved my car away from the hazard")
• Do you have photos or videos? (These are very helpful!)
• Your Name & Contact Details: (For us to provide feedback, kept confidential)
• How you prefer to receive feedback: (SMS, email, or call)

You can choose to remain anonymous, but providing your contact details allows us to get more information and give you updates.  

Receiving Feedback on Your Report

We are committed to keeping you informed. Once you report an incident, you can expect:

• Acknowledgment: You'll receive an initial acknowledgment of your report.
• Updates: We will provide updates on the status and actions taken, based on the incident's urgency.
• Resolution Feedback: We will inform you once the incident has been resolved.

Incident reporting will be included in our monthly email newsletter, monthly website blog, and LGCID Community WhatsApp channel (LGCID Connect). 

You can CONTACT US to join the LGCID Connect WhatsApp channel and subscribe to the monthly LGCID newsletter.  

Your incident reports are vital to building a safer, cleaner, and more vibrant Lower Gardens. We look forward to working together.