City of Joburg unleashes 1 800 metro cops to curb crime in the city centre

• About 1 800 Johannesburg Metro Police Department officers have been deployed to fight crime in the Johannesburg CBD.
• The officers will be responsible for all patrols, stop and search operations, and undercover operations.
• They will be joined by other entities from the City, police and Department of Home Affairs. 

The City of Johannesburg has unleashed 1 800 metro police officers onto the streets of Johannesburg to deal with lawlessness in the CBD.

The deployment is part of Operation Buya Mthetho (bring back the law).

The revived Buya Mthetho is a multidisciplinary project involving all City departments, the police, SA Revenue Services and Department of Home Affairs.

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Public Safety MMC David Tembe Tembe urged people to work with the City to maintain law and order in Johannesburg.

"We are going to reclaim our city from lawlessness, illegal dumping, criminality and the hijacking of our buildings. We want our city to be safe and secure for our people to live and walk freely without fear of criminals," Tembe said.

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Officers will be responsible for block-by-block patrol, stop and search operations, visible policing and undercover operations.

"We are going to patrol this city 24/7. There will be boots on the ground. We expect everyone in the inner city to have the correct documentation. Street vendors and traders must comply with our by-laws. 

"We will not take kindly to dumping and littering in the streets and will have zero tolerance to lawlessness. We will enforce the law consistently without fear or favour. We will do so constitutionally. We are from the community and our legitimacy to enforce the law is from the community. 

"Let everyone know that Operation Buya Mthetho is back in the City of Johannesburg," said Tembe.