Joburg in ‘grip of crime’
Mayor says national justice system undermines JMPD’s crime-busting efforts
THE City of Joburg is losing the war against crime, despite the installation of CCTV cameras in parts of the CBD, mayor Herman Mashaba has revealed.
“I don’t really believe that we are winning, but we are getting a sense of what is happening,” he said.
Mashaba said the city was not winning because the municipality was a “highly regulated environment”.
“If we had prosecutorial competency and our own prisons without any doubt I would be saying something different,” he said.
He underlined that the Johannesburg metro police had limited powers.
“We arrest and we pass on to the national criminal justice system and that’s where things are unfortunate. I don’t really see any progress.”
Mashaba was speaking at the JMPD’s monthly performance statistics announcement.
The department has been compiling monthly statistics since September 2018 that provide an in-depth focus on performance per region and feedback on significant cases.
Mashaba added the rate of crime in the metro was impacting the quality of life of City of Joburg residents, leaving them “powerless and insecure”.
According to the JMPD Operation Buya-Mthetho report for June 2019, driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) remained the highest arrests made by JMPD with 890 arrested, followed by hijacked or stolen motor vehicles (28 arrests) and possession of an unlicensed firearm, with 24 arrests.
JMPD acting head of public safety David Tembe said the inner city, Braamfontein and Yeoville region required more intensity in policing.
This comes as 140 people were arrested for DUI and 3 994 tickets were issued.
Five people were arrested for common robbery, two for fraud and 25 foreign suspects were arrested for not having documentation.
“You can see that the inner city is where things are happening and we need to intensify there,” said Tembe.
He added that illegal dumping was a problem in Alexandra, Sandton and Bramley, with 13 trucks impounded for illegal dumping.
“I was in Alexandra a week ago and it is really a problem with illegal dumping and we are trying to do our best to ensure that doesn’t happen,” he said.
The Rosettenville and Turffontein areas came out with disappointing results, according to Tembe.
Thirty-five people were arrested last month for DUI with 827 written tickets issued, one was arrested for possession of stolen goods and two suspects were arrested for kidnapping.
“I think we have to improve on this region but these results are not what we expect in this region, because we have a lot of complaints, especially about drugs,” said Tembe.
MMC for Public Safety Michael Sun urged residents to report any emergencies to the police before posting them on social media.
“We want to urge residents that when you see a crime or suspicious activity, vehicle or person or emergency please don’t post it on a group thinking that somebody will call the police or firemen for you. Log the instances,” he said.