Hatfield In Crisis

Pretoria university students have given up their student drinking and partying rights, opting instead to stay home during weekends and avoid Hatfield square and party spots which are fast becoming dangerous hangouts late at night.

After the last attack on a university student we were promised that the local police would be out in full force at night, keeping an eye on the nightclub and bar areas where the crime and violence seems to be most prominent. For the first few nights there was a noticeable increase in the police force monitoring the area, but then as the hype about the attack died down so did dedication of the police force.

Now one can understand that there might be more dangerous areas in Pretoria, which are considered more important to patrol, but are any of these areas as densely populated with young people as Hatfield or more importantly with young female students whom mostly have to walk home after a night of parting since they don't have cars?

I think the town counsel is slacking off in the area of student protection. If you can't spare the police force then at least try to start a safety awareness campaign to try and tone down the violence. Start thinking of ways to cull the high amount of alcohol assumed in this area, which only makes the possibility of anything happening so much worse.

I believe the council never bothered to put up a fight for Hatfield's neighboring suburb Sunnyside when it started on its downward spiral and I'm seeing them take the same indifferent attitude with Hatfield.