Durban — The eThekwini Neighbourhood Watch, which has about 500 members operating in the Inanda-Ntuzuma-KwaMashu (INK) area, is to receive skills training by Durban metro police.
Members of the volunteer structure were told this on Wednesday during a workshop held in KwaMashu’s G section.
Spokesperson Boni Mthiyane said Wednesday’s was one of five workshops they would have with metro police.
He said the first workshop was to iron out and to give members an understanding of what they could do during their crime combating, as well as to discuss joint operations with the police.
“This workshop also touched on the legal framework that we fall under, then the following ones will be about skills. The skills workshops will assist us in learning how to deal with criminals that we apprehend in terms of not harming them, and how to speedily get them to police.”
Mthiyane said they did not have any weapons. Instead, they relied on pepper spray in case they needed to protect themselves.
“Our task is to apprehend and enforce a citizen’s arrest.
“The biggest problems we’ve had here, especially in this northern region of eThekwini, were hijackings, especially of vans and bakkies as well as mini buses.
“We’ve also had a problem of gender-based violence, as well as common burglary. We have noted that these crimes have decreased by much.
“The crime stats released at the end of 2022 showed that crime has dropped significantly in the region. Word from officials is that the decrease was also due to the assistance from the neighbourhood watch.”
Mthiyane said following the July unrest and looting in the province, fed-up residents who saw an increase in crime in that region rallied together to form the neighbourhood watch. It was formed by Andile Jali and Njabulo Mgeyana from Ntuzuma F section.
“We were fed-up as residents of the INK area to have the place where we lived being infamous for crime and being known as the most dangerous place to go in the country. Inanda has been number one when it comes to rapes, which is a serious crime that we need to curb.”
Mthiyane said the structure’s formation began ward by ward in the INK area through a district vote. Following that, safety committees were formed which then mobilised members in the communities.
“We have patrols in the morning when people are going to work to ensure their safety. The community watch has grown exponentially, to have support from area councillors, and the mayor of eThekwini Municipality. We now fall under its Safer Cities programme.”
Jali, the chairperson of the neighbourhood watch, said they were pleasantly surprised when Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube hailed them for their work and pledged a budget during the recent State of the Province Address.
“We are delighted to see that our work in and around our communities of Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu areas is being recognised, not only at the eThekwini municipal level, but also at the provincial level through our premier.
“It encourages our volunteers to stand strong and keep fighting the good fight, even though they do not get paid for this service.
“The structure now boasts new members from several sections of the uMlazi Neighbourhood Watch who joined in the past couple of months.”
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