At back, from left, are Ward 82 councillor Washiela Harris; Mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith; Colin Bull, the facility coordinator in Town Centre; and, in front, Silindokuhle Tamsanqa, admin staff in Town Centre and Faldeelah Larnie on the walkabout with Mr Smith on Wednesday May 15.
A group of 16 Law Enforcement officers and Metro Police officers have been deployed to work in the Town Centre as part of the City’s CBD enforcement project.
In total, 26 Law Enforcement officers and 24 Metro Police officers have been assigned to the CBDs – 18 in Bellville, and 16 a piece in Wynberg and Mitchell’s Plain, said Mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith.
These deployments will happen in addition to the general area Law Enforcement, Traffic and Metro Police deployments.
Commuters and leaders at the taxi rank, bus stops and trading stations were free to engage with Mr Smith at the Town Centre CBD on Wednesday May 15.
They will work from 9am until 4pm daily for a two-week period, after which the deployment times will be assessed and amended according to operational needs.
The Cape Town Central Business District deployment was launched in July 2022 with 100 Law Enforcement officers to increase visible policing, support primary agencies and to ensure that by-laws are adhered to.
“Based on the experience in Cape Town CBD, we’re adding additional enforcement staff in our three largest city hubs, Bellville, Wynberg and Mitchell’s Plain Town Centre. We will now have a larger sustained enforcement and dedicated officers meant specifically for this project to operate there,” said Mr Smith.
The deployment will assist with crime prevention, enforcing City by-laws such as for informal trading and traffic enforcement, he said.
In their first quarter on the beat, these officers made 185 arrests, and issued thousands of fines, said Mr Smith.
In the current financial year, July last year to March, they’ve received 20 087 service requests, searched 21 166 persons and 921 vehicles and issued 60 683 fines. They’ve also made 1 396 arrests, 30% of which have been drug-related, and impounded 22 vehicles.
“We’d like to see this environment stabilised, clean, where crime is reduced and make it safer for people to visit so that they will return in larger numbers to do business,” he said.
There are too many empty shops and some say they feel unsafe. If there is a loss of clientele that means businesses can’t survive, the owners of the properties can’t charge decent rentals, it starts a vicious cycle and the area could degenerate. The purpose of the urban regeneration strategy is an additional dedicated deployment, he said.
Crime is “flourishing way worse than it should. These interventions with about 200 officers a year can make these interventions happen, making these spaces safer,” he said.
Colin Bull, the facility coordinator in Town Centre said that JP Smith visiting the area is a help, however, they have many challenges at night.
“We have the fleet during the day and struggle with vandalism with the facilities. We really need help with this,” he said.
Ward 82 councillor Washiela Harris, who is part of the safety and security portfolio for the City, said while they were doing the walkabout on Wednesday they caught people using illegal substances.
“This deployment is important. It will allow us to assist illegal brokers to become legal, continue the stop and search and to also monitor activities in Town Centre and create awareness around this project,” she said.
They will do a formal launch in the coming weeks, said Mr Smith.
“For the communities, it’s an opportunity to establish relationships, and trust, with the uniformed services working in their area, and will hopefully result in an information exchange for the benefit of all,” said Mr Smith.