March 4, 2005
By Bafana Nzimande
MORE than 400 law enforcement officials will take to Joburg's streets on Saturday, 5 March as part of the city's crime awareness campaign.
Accompanied by more than 50 inner city residents, members of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, the South African National Defence Force and the South African Police Service (SAPS) will be highlighting the important role ordinary citizens play in the fight against crime.
"Crime affects everyone in our society, hence we feel everyone must get heavily involved in this continuous battle to eradicate those perpetrators," said William Ntsanwisi, the Ward 46 councillor.
Organised by the City, metro police and the SAPS to discourage drug dealing, loitering and other criminal activities, the campaign will start at 8am at Alec Gorshel Park, on the corner of Catherine Street and Joel Avenue, in Berea.
Sizakele Nkosi, member of the mayoral committee for public safety, representatives from the metro police and the SAPS will speak to participants at the park before the rally gets under way. It will work through the streets of Hillbrow and Berea, leading up to the corner of Fife Avenue and O`Reilly Road.
"Some law enforcement officials will raid identified areas and buildings around the inner city to enforce safe and healthy environmental standards," Ntsanwisi said. "It is part of our long-term campaign to make sure that the inner city is safe, clean and crime-free, especially during festive seasons; we will specifically raid all those buildings that have proved to be problematic."
Over the years, it has become a "tradition" in Hillbrow for people to throw house appliances from the tops of their buildings or out of their windows in celebrating the new year. Many people have been injured.
Ntsanwisi said the corner of Fife Avenue and O`Reilly Road was the most problematic area, and the only way to deal with the problem was the get local people actively involved in the fight against crime. "With public support, this battle against crime can be won.".
Law enforcement officers will also clamp down on illegal firearms, to coincide with the gun amnesty campaign. Because of the increasing number of gun-related incidents in the inner city, it had become important for local residents to report all unlicensed firearms to the police, Ntsanwisi said.
"Saturday's event [will be] just the beginning of our long-awaited victory against crime, but this victory can only be achieved if we get everyone fully involved in the battle."
Follow-up raids and safety operations would be conducted around the inner city as part of the campaign, Ntsanwisi concluded.
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