Initiative on crime a success

BUYA MTHETHO: ENFORCING LAW

City of Joburg cracks down on city’s lawbreakers and corrupt cops.

Sandton and Alexandra lead the charge when it comes to driving under the influence (DUI) arrests, while arrests overall are on the rise and 23 officers have been dismissed from the force for charges related to bribery, fraud, corruption and extortion.

These are just some of the highlights from yesterday’s City of Joburg’s (COJ) #BuyaMthetho (bring back the law) press briefing.

Led by mayor Herman Mashaba and the chief of the Joburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), David Tembe, the briefing gave the COJ an opportunity to showcase the work they have been doing in the last eight months to ensure the rule of law in the city.

“With this exercise, we are putting the national criminal justice system under pressure to do its job,” said Mashaba during his opening address.

“We are doing this because, today, we have referred more than 60 cases to the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) for prosecution and, until today, no demonstrable action has taken place.”

He revealed that the COJ would now be releasing crime stats on a monthly basis with the aim of “jolting” law enforcement into action because municipalities had no legal mandate to fight crime as that responsibility lay solely with the South African Police Service (Saps) and the NPA.

He also expressed concern about the fact that travel warnings had been issued against South Africa following the recent crime stats shared by Minister of Police Bheki Cele.

Though arrests across the board are on the rise, the number of unroadworthy vehicles that have been impounded has dropped to 1 358 from 2 153 last year.

All of this is as a result of operation Buya Mthetho, a COJ initiative launched earlier this year “aimed at enforcing bylaws and bringing the rule of law to the City of Joburg”.

The operation has been billed as a success and has resulted in even more revenue for the city.

“Through this operation, Buya Mthetho, we have already collected more than R700 million from some of the more than 2 000 businesses whose accounts were not on our system.

“These companies had connected to our services illegally,” said Mashaba.

Residents of the city have been asked to do their bit to ensure the continued success of the operation by tipping off the city. –