Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize directed
provincial police commissioner Mmamonnye Ngobeni on Wednesday to increase
police visibility in the Highway area.
He also instructed Ngobeni to increase the number of
police vehicles in the area.
Mkhize was speaking at a meeting with residents of the
Highway area to address their concerns about an increase in crime in recent
months.
At the meeting, residents complained of a lack of police
visibility and resources at police stations, drug abuse, and intimidation of
community members who worked with the police.
Emolweni Community Forum representative Sibusiso Mhlophe
said the police took five hours to respond when they were called to arrest a
criminal who had been caught stealing.
Mhlophe said he had been robbed 20 times because he was a
member of the CPF and had been called an "impimpi" [spy].
Working with police
Mkhize said the issue of crime in the Highway area would
be reported to the police minister.
He called on residents to work with the police to fight
crime.
Provincial Human Settlements MEC Ravi Pillay said three
vacant sites belonging to the public works department, which were overgrown and
provided a haven for criminals, had been prioritised.
The sites belonged to the education department.
The department would be asked if it was willing to
release them so they could be used for other projects, Pillay said.
