Special gang unit already seeing results

A SPECIALISED policing unit sent into gang-ridden Manenberg has begun to see results, with mass confiscations of drugs and fines totalling R111 500 issued.

The “Stabilisation Unit”, launched last Friday, comprises 90 Expanded Public Works Programme workers who have been trained to police in areas where there are high levels of violence.

It has been deployed to gang-ridden suburbs such as Manenberg, Bishop Lavis, Ottery and Hanover Park for daily enforcement in a bid to stop gang flare-ups.

Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith said operations would continue for the next three to four months.

He said about R15 million would be spent on the initiative. On the first day of operations, with help from SAPS and the metro police, 210 officers were deployed.

There were 236 drug confiscations – including for dagga, tik and heroin – 161 fines issued, totalling R111 500, 14 arrests and 40 stop and searches.

“I will pile everything I have into Manenberg. We previously did not have the resources. With this saturation we will flood the neighbourhood,” Smith said.

The unit was equipped with firearms and body armour and would be going “door-to-door” to introduce themselves to the community, Smith said.

However, Roegshanda Pascoe, of the Manenberg Safety Forum, said the City had not adequately consulted the community. She said complaints had also been received about the unit targeting innocents and barging into homes.

“The people in Manenberg already have to endure so much. Now that the situation has been quiet, they bring the stabilisation unit in. Not all of us are drug merchants and gangsters,” she said.

At the launch of the unit, mayor Patricia de Lille said a holistic approach was needed.

She said holiday programmes and initiatives to keep the youth off the streets and away from drugs were essential.

“For those who have succumbed to this epidemic in our society, we invested R300 000 in an alcohol and drug abuse treatment site (based on the Matrix model) on Ruimte Road in Manenberg, which opened in February this year,” she said.

De Lille said since June 2014, the metro police had made major strides.

“They have made 95 drugrelated arrests, confiscated 1 671 units of drugs and 13 firearms with 150 rounds of ammunition. These yields came as a result of 218 searches conducted on premises, 40 vehicle searches and 791 persons searched. A total of 298 operations were held within Manenberg during the same time frame,” she said.

Provincial police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said the Cape Times’s request for comment had been forwarded to SAPS management, but they had not responded by deadline.

With this saturation in Manenberg we will flood the neighbourhood