Durban — The DA in eThekwini has called on metro police to protect the municipality’s residents after metro police commissioner Steve Middleton confirmed there was a shortage of metro police, with 500 new recruits only being fully operational by June 2023.
DA eThekwini councillor Sharmaine Sewshanker said: “The DA in eThekwini calls on metro police to get their act together and focus on delivering on their core mandate, which is to protect the residents of this city instead of making headlines for all the wrong reasons.”
Sewshanker said Middleton confirmed there was a shortage of metro police, with 500 new recruits only being fully operational by June 2023.
“Residents of eThekwini Municipality are feeling helpless and frustrated by the lack of visible policing by metro police. While crime escalates out of control in the absence of by-law enforcement, it is very evident that the city’s law enforcement unit can’t provide protection to the ratepayers of eThekwini, much like during last year’s July riots,” Sewshanker said.
She said with bloated overtime budgets, the excuse of being under-resourced had become as conspicuous as their absence in times of need.
“The emergency call centre staff often exhibit an inability to accurately log and filter through complaints. This is becoming a nightmare for eThekwini residents in need of emergency assistance.
“The unit is fast losing control of by-law enforcement while more hours and manpower is spent on issuing parking tickets and providing protection services, instead of crime prevention and visible policing,” Sewshanker said.
“Taxis have converted multiple corners of eThekwini into ranks without consequence management, and public disturbance continues to the early hours of the morning. Muggings and robberies are on the increase as by-law violations are flaunted. There is a clear absence of real leadership and political will within the unit while lawlessness around the city spirals out of control.
“We need to be proactive as a city and not reactive. The new recruits should be strategically deployed around the city’s crime hot spot areas as a form of deterrent for would-be criminals. We need visible policing, patrolling and prevention of crime,” Sewshanker added.
In August, DA eThekwini executive member councillor Yogiswarie Govender, when speaking about the municipality’s steady descent to ground zero as tug of war on overtime and vacancies continues, said essential service units like Fire and Emergency, metro police, electricity, eThekwini water and sanitation, Durban Solid Waste and Parks Recreation and culture, had been struggling to perform basic services for years because city administration had failed to get their basics right.
Daily News