The Orthodox Jewish community of Johannesburg, South Africa is facing flak over the erection of poles used in the traditional “eruv” which designates the Jewish legal demarcation within which a Jew can carry on the Sabbath.

The Greenside Hebrew Congregation has come under fire from local residents about its use of the 5.4-meter (17.7-foot) poles due to fears they present a security risk. It is not unusual for South African police to report up to 50 murders per day in the country.

“Criminals will work out in less than two seconds how to scale this pole and jump over the electric fences into properties,” resident Sylvia Kugler explained in an interview published in The Citizen local newspaper. “Obviously, no thought was given to security.”

Actually, congregation chairman Ari Ben-David told the newspaper a solution has indeed been found: “We have received a few complaints and have agreed to put barbed wire on top of one such pole to deter criminals,” he said.

Under Jewish law, the eruv creates an area considered an extension of private domain for the duration of the Sabbath. This enables Jews to carry prayer books and push baby carriages to the synagogue on Sabbath, lasting from sundown Friday to one hour past sunset on Saturday night.