Sectional Title Living

The security duties of the trustees of a sectional title scheme

When new trustees, unfamiliar with procedures, are elected they need to take up portfolios of responsibility. I composed the attached outline of the duties of the trustee/s responsible for maintaining the security of a complex. This might be useful for other schemes. The equipment and action steps might differ, but the outline of duties is quite comprehensive. Download Security duties - trustee

Tips on security measures by owners/tenants is captured in another post.

I recommend the following security measures to trustees for consideration:

· Maintaining contact with local SAPS, the sectional police forum and/or local neighbourhood watch.

· Continually to keep complex residents aware of their responsibilities for their own safety and the collective responsibility of the safety of the complex as a whole.

· Entry to the complex via a keypad/telephone link to residents and scheduled checks and maintenance of the gate motors and rails.

· An electric fence, regularly checked, with instead of alarm/s rather floodlights activated when triggered.

Our complex had barbed wire being cut to gain entry. We replaced barbed wire with bladed wire, which had been cut to gain entry. Spikes can be bend away or overcome by gloves and thick-soled shoes—personally stepped on spikes to repair lights—they are for show. We have had only false alarms in all the time we had our electric fence. If the fence is regularly checked and kept clear from vegetation and clean from dead insects or water absorbing materials caught in-between isolators and wires, there should not be false alarms. The wires cannot be pushed aside or cut, because the alarm would be activated. However, I believe floodlights would be better than alarms that are often ignored, because if a burglar suddenly finds him/herself in a well lid area, he/she would most likely run away. We had armed response for a while, but generally found the response time unsatisfactorily or at times not at all. We therefore discontinued the armed response services.

Revised 22 May 2010

Securing your unit in a sectional title complex

Crime against property occurs on the average of 20 times a minute. Total home security from professional thieves is probably impossible, but fortunately most home burglaries are done by amateurs. Time and attention are the rivals of burglars, because the longer it takes to enter and the more noise is made increases the chances of being seen and caught. Therefore, homes not easily and quickly broken into are frequently bypassed for easier targets.

Do not fool yourself that your unit (or vehicle) is secure because it is in a complex that has a 24 hours security guard (which is only human; have been found to be bribed or worked with criminals; and can be overwhelmed); a security fence (that is only as strong as the weakest link—frequently careless fellow residents, for example, leaving gates open, etc.) or that your unit is surrounded by other people (it is not uncommon that have 'bad' neighbours—inside jobs).

There are a lot of common-sense things you can do to improve the security of your own unit:

• Do not advertise popular valuables, such as large flat-screen TVs, or leave items that are small and expensive that can easily be converted to cash in places where they can easily be seen—it merely serves as invitations. Don't tempt burglars.
• Keep doors, or at least security gates locked, especially if you are at home and even when entertaining several people—there is a tendency to target non-expecting groups to rob people at gun point and take all jewellery, valuables and even steel cars.
• Lock your unit's door, even if you go out only for a short time to another unit. Many chance burglars just walk in through an unlocked door.
• Harden the target by making your unit more difficult to enter—if your unit requires too much effort or requires special skill and tools the burglar might bypass your unit. If your unit is accessible through the garage, make sure the door is secure.
• All exterior doors should be made of solid wood or metal, replace doors that are not. Every door should have a deadbolt—do not rely on a door lock without a deadbolt.
• Keep the area outside your entry doors well lid and install safety spy holes or "peep hole" at entry doors. If you get an unexpected knock at the door, check to see who it is before opening it.
• Train children and domestic workers not to let any strangers in.
• Secure windows and sliding glass-patio doors. Consider safety-coating—it is an adhesive plastic sheeting that makes breaking out windows difficult—the most vulnerable windows.
• Make sure windows are not accessible from a nearby tree, the fence, a stairway or by climbing on a balcony.
• Keep the unit's, garage and car keys out of sight and reach.
• Be a good neighbour—get to know your neighbours surrounding your unit, communicate often, and establish trust. Good neighbours do look out for each other and will watch your unit, if you ask them, when you are away.
• Get involved with the local neighbourhood watch and/or in the local sectional police forum.
• Don't leave notes on the door for service people or family members—these may alert burglars that you are not at home.
• Light-timers with strategically placed lights create the impression that the unit is occupied. A timer on the TV or hi-fi further reinforces the impression of presence.

• Adjust your telephone ringtone to its lowest volume setting, because frequent unanswered phone-ringing may just tip off a burglar that no one is home.