Possible move to the Garden Route-Wild​erness??

[Dave]

Hi everybody, for the past 5 years my wife and I have been looking at relocating to the Wilderness, Sedgefield or Knysna. We are from Cape Town and we have been to the Wilderness many times and loved it!

I am self employed and therefore I don't need to seek employment in the Garden Route which I have heard is the biggest hurdle to moving there.

I was hoping if you could tell me what the crime levels are like in the towns I mentioned as I have heard that in Knysna some of the cops are corrupt and cause problems? Like the rape case that I read about on a elderly women in the Knysna Heads. I couldn't believe it when I read that. That is awful!

Also, could you please tell me where to look for property(websites) as I am looking at buying a lifestyle block(1 or 2 hectare) outside of the towns?

My main concern is the crime as I have heard that it is increasing because of the general unemployed population of the towns is increasing. I'm assuming like any town/city the population has been increasing and crime has increased. I'm just afraid of moving from Cape Town where there is crime and then to move to the Garden Route and then crime could be an issue.

I would appreciate any advice you have. Thanks in advance.

David

[HandMade]

Welcome to the Garden Route Forum Dave. I attended a crime summit last week and the statistics provided for the area show a definite increase in crime in our area. In reality this news is not surprising as there is a persistent infux of families into the area. There were obvious hotspots provided by the statistics, but in my limited experience these tend to move around according to what criminals would regard as easy targets. The most notable figures the statistics revealed is the following ( to me anyway):

Crime statistics are only as good as the community and local authorities allow them to be. A good example would be that recent statistics show that crime in the Western Cape is higher than in Gauteng. This may be true, however I believe this is only true because the WC are better at keeping statistics than Gauteng as well as the fact that the communities are better at reporting crime than before. Given South Africa's level of domestic violence one needs to bear this in mind when considering statistics.

Ok back to our area. The statistics show an increase, but the concentration of crime is predominantly as a result of alcohol or drug abuse. So much so that a plea went out to all communities to report known shebeen and/or drug "houses", which is where it all begins. Majority of violent crime is also due to the same. With the persistent infux of people to our area, crime increases proportionately, but as alarmist as this may be, it cannot be compared to the larger cities, simply because I believe our local police are better at what they do, because the numbers are so much smaller and the communities are more willing to be involved. This is not to say we are not concerned at the levels of crime. Any levels of crime is cause for concern, but with smaller communities participating with local police law enforement has a much better chance at minimizing the increase.

To summarize. Crime is on the increase, but violent crime related to armed robberies, hikackings etc. are not commonplace and the police are very effective at catching the perpetrators.

[trevor]

From my experience in the Garden Route, serious crimes like armed robbery is very rare and hijacking is something I have yet to hear about. Crime in the Garden Route cannot, in anyway be compared to Cape Town or Johannesburg. There are more people in one suburb of Gauteng than there are in the entire Garden Route, which has over 20 towns. The important point to bear in mind is that the Garden Route only constitutes but 1% of our GDP. With so little money being generated here, its not a huge drawcard for employment opportunity.

[Dave]

Thanks for the reply Handmade! When you say a persistent influx of families into the area; Im assuming you mean general population increase in the low socio economic areas? I know that trend is normal as South Africa's population has been increasing exponentially, but has slowed down in recent years. I know that will definitely bring an increase in all sorts of problems especially considering our lack of decent education and employment opportunities for the majority of people.

I have been trying to get an idea of the crime around the Garden Route and I know that one cannot compare Cape Town to the Garden Route. However, I have heard of a few reports in Knysna that are of concern and the recent farm murder outside George(Charlotte Froneman- Very sad,my condolences to the family) This is where I saw it- http://www.boerentrepreneur.com/farm...orts/view/2500

I am interested in buying a small plot/farm in the Wilderness area and would like to know if I would be affected in any way. I know there are no guarantees, but are small farmers around the Wilderness area relatively safe or do I have to have electric fencing, cameras, alarm etc?? If someone could also please send me link or name of a real estate agent that specialises in selling small plots/farms in the area, I would appreciate it.

Thank you for you help and the great forum!

[Milkwood]

Hi Dave - what about contacting the neighbourhood watch in the area(s) you're considering? If you're thinking of somewhere outside of Wilderness like Hoekwil, then you might think about giving Vannessa or John, the owners of the Village Shop a call or send them an e-mail. They can give you a run down on what's happening in that immediate area. A google search of small holdings for sale in the Garden Route of turns up plenty of real estate agents....

Good luck!

[Dave]

Hi Milkwood. Thanks for the information you provided. I have emaield the Village Shop and I will see what they have to say and possibly give them a call.

Yes, Hoekwil is one of the areas we had in mind and further back closer to the mountains Hopefully they will be able to give me an idea if farm crime/attacks are a problem in the area. Tableview, where we currently live, crime has increased and is becoming a daily problem! As an ex farmer myself in the Eastern Cape, we lived in fear as they were so prevalent and I dont want to go through that again with my family.