The Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Public Safety has vowed to enforce the rule of law in the Johannesburg inner city to stamp out crime and grime.
Cllr David Tembe told various stakeholders from Region F that upholding the rule of law will reinstate public confidence in the JMPD, while helping the municipality deliver services efficiently.
Cllr Tembe met with community members in the inner city at the Museum Africa auditorium in Newtown, accompanied by the acting JMPD Chief of Police, Thulani Khanyile, and the acting Chief of Emergency Management Services (EMS), Tshepo Makola, as well as other high-ranking municipal officials, including members of the South African Police Service.
The meeting forms part of a series of strategic engagements with various stakeholders, including law enforcement officials, in a bid to mete out solutions to curb crime and lawlessness in the inner city.
One after another, community members who had packed the Museum Africa auditorium raised concerns about their daily lived experience of crime and grime in their area.”We live in fear in our city, and it is disgraceful to the people of South Africa and the country as a whole,” said one of the people attending the meeting.
The issue of hijacked buildings was raised several times as a grave concern. One of the hijacked buildings had historical significance and used to serve the creative industry.
“The Baseline was designated for arts and recreation, but today it is hijacked. This harms children around the area as they don’t have other means of entertainment and they end up resorting to crime,” complained Mpho Ntlatleng, the CEO of Ol Afrika Media Foundation.
Ntlatleng said troubled parents were concerned for their children’s safety as the sale of drugs is increasing in schools.
“One of the problems the community is facing is the peddling of drugs at the Bree taxi rank. We don’t feel safe when we pass the taxi rank, and we can’t continue like this as South Africans,” another resident said.
Some community members acknowledged and applauded the visibility of JMPD officers in the CBD yet said more needed to be done to curb crime.
Other issues raised concerned informal traders without permits, unsafe parks, criminal acts targeting Pikitup night shifters, and water running in the street, eroding road infrastructure.
“We want to see more departments and all MMCs working together because these service delivery shortfalls are linked,” said another resident.
A representative of the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service reported that the municipality was in the process of reclaiming hijacked buildings.
The JMPD’s Khanyile told attendees their concerns were noted and that the City’s police force would continue to enforce the law.
Cllr Tembe emphasised that Operation #BuyaMthetho had been established to clamp down on lawlessness in Johannesburg. He added that political differences would not interfere with the development of the city.
“I don’t want residents to walk for over five minutes without seeing a law enforcement officer,” he said. The MMC encouraged the controversial members of Operation Dudula, who have been advocating for the deportation of undocumented immigrants, to embrace the law.
“They should operate within the scope of South African law,” he added.
A safer city has been identified as the second most important priority in the City’s multiparty coalition government. Cllr Tembe stated that it was for this reason that Operation #BuyaMthetho was relaunched earlier this year, with 1 800 metro police officers deployed in the inner city.
We’ve introduced block-by-block patrol for stop and search operations and have since arrested many people for various infringements. Cllr Tembe said he’d meet Region F stakeholders again in three months to assess progress on commitments made in the first sitting.
Written by Dakalo Ramudidibi
11/03/2022