Fear of crime is widespread in Johannesburg

The authorities in Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city, are proceeding with the dismantling of fences and gates across roads despite protests from residents who erected them for security purposes.

The authorities say they are acting to free up movement in the city and create a friendlier atmosphere.

City workers have been using cutting tools and welding guns to remove some 1,100 gates, fences and swing barriers which have been erected on the city streets.

This follows the passing of a deadline a week ago for residents to get legal approval or have them removed.

We have had 35 crimes since January and I feel that we are at threat Johannesburg resident

"(These residents) haven't made any attempt to legalise the booms and the gates that they have erected," Liam Clarke, operations manager for Johannesburg's roads agency told Reuters news agency.

"Gated communities"

Authorities say they have received about 300 applications from residents hoping to keep their blockades around their so-called "gated communities", which tend to be seen as safer and more exclusive.

The barricades also help keep poor people away

The BBC's Hilary Andersson, says thousands of residents who have installed the fences and gates to protect themselves in Johannesburg, one of the crime capitals of the world, are not pleased with the government's move.

"We have had 35 crimes since January and I feel that we are at threat. That is why we have taken these measures," one resident told our reporter.

In the last year for which statistics are available there were nearly 1,000 murders in Johannesburg - a murder rate some 16 times higher than London.

There were also over 15,000 house burglaries and nearly 8,000 serious assaults.

Totally naked

Another Johannesburg resident, called Charlene, who has been burgled 12 times at gunpoint in her home, has decided to lock every room in the house behind her when she is not in it.

SA authorities say they want to create a "friendlier atmosphere"

"If you took our gates away, I probably would not sleep because you would feel totally naked - you would feel that security is gone," she says.

Concern is expressed that although apartheid is over in South Africa, these fences can perpetuate racial and economic segregation.

"On the face of it is appears to be an issue of safety and security. But I think when one looks deeper it has a real danger of dividing us as a nation," Charlene said.

Fear of the city's high crime rate is the most-cited reason behind the blockades, which began mushrooming shortly after the 1994 elections that brought democracy to South Africa.