40 held in Jhb roadblocks

2004-01-01 13:51

Johannesburg - Metro police arrested 40 people in roadblocks held in different areas of the city on New Year's Eve, said a spokesperson on Thursday.

Superintendent Wayne Minaar said 21 were arrested in Hillbrow on charges of drunken driving and police issued 50 tickets for traffic violations.

A man was arrested for having an unlicensed firearm.

Three illegal immigrants were also arrested.

Inspector Kriban Naidoo of Hillbrow police station said that although "traditional attitudes" were still in evidence, despite a massive police presence in the tough neighbourhood, nobody was injured unlike in past years.

"This year, I saw only one washing machine and this was an isolated incident," he said, adding there was "some debris", but nothing on the scale of the previous years.

"In the past, streets looked like a pawnshop after New Year's Eve," he said.

Naidoo said police had in the past week, cleared "rubble and rubbish" from the rooftops of the numerous high-rise buildings in Hillbrow as a pre-emptive measure.

Medics treated 51 injured people

He said police were dealing with two assault cases, 20 cases of drunk driving, two alleged rapes and one case of negligence arising from "carrying of a firearm while intoxicated" in incidents related to New Year's Eve celebrations.

However, Mandy Toubkin from Netcare 911, the country's largest private emergency healthcare service, which set up special booths to tend to the injured in Hillbrow and other flashpoints, said her organisation had tended to 51 injured people overnight.

In Soweto, 14 were arrested for drunken driving and 200 tickets issued for traffic violations, while there was only one arrest in Alexandra and 64 tickets for traffic violations were issued.

Minaar said the metro police were serious about reducing road deaths in line with the Arrive Alive campaign.

No fridges flung, say police

The road blocks started on Wednesday night and would continue until the end of the festive season.

Minaar said Hillbrow residents were cautious, sensible and didn't throw objects from high-rise buildings.

For many years, large items such as fridges and beds have been tossed from high-rise blocks of flats, causing injury and death.

There were only one or two incidences which the police quickly brought under control, Minaar said.

He attributed the calm to a heavy police presence and co-operation between them and the residents. - Sapa/AFP

- SAPA