Saps committed to making CBD safe again
Responding to the rise in crime, especially business robberies, in the CBD, uMgungundlovu district commander Major General Nozipho Madondo said Saps is committed to its vision of keeping Pietermaritzburg's CBD and surrounding areas safe and crime free.
She said this during a parade held at AB Jackson Sports Grounds, just outside Alexandra Police Station, on Friday, followed by an anti-crime operation in the city.
"This is a starting point to ensure that we combine our forces. We have taken members from other stations as well to come and assist. We will cover areas in the CBD and partly the Alexandra Road area because we believe that there's an overflow of crime from the CBD to Alexandra Road area," said Madondo, adding that Saps is experiencing an upsurge in business robberies, with many shops in town being targeted and robbed of cash and stock.
She also said mugging at knife or gun point had become an issue on the streets.
"Those are the main threats we currently face in the city. Robberies are really escalating, and this is what we are trying to address," she said, adding that it will not be a one-day operation, but a continued effort to eradicate crime in the CBD.
"We are going to have a series of operations as we know we cannot address crime in one day. We will continue with these operations until we are satisfied with the decrease in the level of crime in the city.
"People don't feel safe when they come to town. What we want to achieve is to arrest perpetrators who are involved in crime and ensure successful prosecution. It is important for citizens to know that we have Saps and other role players deployed to ensure their safety," she said, emphasising that all Saps wants is for citizens to feel safe and able to move freely around the city.
During the multidisciplinary operations, conducted by Saps in Umgungundlovu District, in the Pietermaritzburg CBD and surrounding areas, 28 suspects (aged between 20 to 45 years) were arrested for various crimes.
According to the police spokesperson Sergeant Sifiso Gwala, charges included possession of stolen property, possession of dangerous weapons, illegal immigrants, robbery, possession of state property, resisting arrest, road traffic fines and dealing in and being in possession of drugs such as heroin, dagga, cocaine and ecstacy.
"The operation started midday and continued until 8pm. It comprised members from different stations within Umgungundlovu District and units within the organisation and partnered with other stakeholders namely: Msunduzi Municipality traffic, municipality security,
RTI, Economic Development and Department of Home Affairs," said Sergeant Gwala.
Among the items recovered were 71 fake DVDs, four knives, a side cutter, a cell phone and 3 600ml of liquor. They also recovered drugs to the street value of R30 000 and R3000 cash.