December 15, 2004
By Bafana Nzimande
JOHANNESBURG Metro Police swooped on six farms operating illegally in Mzimhlope, Soweto, on Monday 13 December, and issued the farmers with fines for contravening health by-laws.
The blitz was part of an ongoing crime prevention operation aimed at those in breach of the City's health and environment by-laws.
Recently the area has seen a problem with animals - mainly cattle - roaming freely, causing a hazard on the streets of the township.
Several small-time farmers are currently using open tracts of land dotted around the township for communal grazing, and it is these "farms" that are being targeted by health officials and the Metro Police.
"The operation is aimed at enforcing by-laws in identified areas and to maintain the City's broader safety strategy to keep Johannesburg clean and safe," City of Johannesburg spokesperson, Nthatisi Modingoane, said.
These areas are not meant for livestock farming, Modingoane said, adding the Council had received a number of complaints from neighbouring community members concerning health hazards caused by the animals.
He added people had also complained about road accidents "caused by the very same animals if let loose, as they eventually land up on public roads".
The farmers were to have been evicted on 13 December in terms of a court order, but were given a month to sort out their affairs. "With Christmas just around the corner, the Council decided to give site occupants one final chance to voluntarily leave these areas before the animals are impounded," Modingoane said.
For now, the livestock owners have been issued with fines. If they fail to pay they will have to appear in court on charges of contravening animal and health by-laws, according to Modingoane.
Come January next year, any animals being kept illegally in the township will be impounded, he added.
The dawn visits formed part of the City's ongoing Operation Token Days, a 500-day anti-crime campaign unveiled by Mayor Amos Masondo in October.
Greeted by the smell of cow dung, the sounds of goats and three youngsters moving around inside the cattle stable, Metro Police and environment officials made their presence felt with the blasting of sirens as they entered the communal farm in Mzimhlope.
Unamused by their early visitors, three people were each issued with a R500 fine for the illegal possession of farm animals in an urban area.
Protesting the action, one of the farmers asked: "If you say we must move from here, where are we suppose to move to?"
The animal owners refused to comment on the morning's raid, saying they had been "misrepresented" in the media.
For the Metro Police their anti-crime operation unearthed an unexpected find - a plot of dagga plants about waist height.
They were ripped out and loaded on to the back of a Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) bakkie. "So far nobody has been linked to the plants, so we can't make any arrests yet," said JMPD's Deputy Director, Tselane Maila.
"Today's operation has been a major success," Maila said, "and Council has been kind enough to give these people a chance to take their animals to various homelands before January next year, because by then we are definitely impounding the animals."
After the Monday morning blitz, the Metro Police were to move on to neighbouring Meadowlands, accompanied by representatives of the City's Department of Environmental Health.
According to Modingoane, a total of 17 summonses and eight fines were issued on Monday, 13 December, and "the number is expected to increase, because the operation has rolled out to more areas in parts of Meadowlands, Orlando East, Mzimhlope and Eldorado Park," he said.
"This is an ongoing campaign to enforce bylaws," he added.
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