Durban — The community of Wentworth, south of Durban, which has been plagued by weekly drive-by shootings and murders, has called on the new police station commander to help them build trust in her.
Colonel Sinayo Mtshali was appointed as Wentworth police station commander in February. According to community leaders, her predecessors failed to deal with rampant drug dealing and related murders.
The Merewent Community Policing Forum (CPF) held a meeting on Sunday to address the drive-by shootings, sale of drugs, murders and poor turnouts at community meetings in the Austerville/Wentworth community. There are about 35 000 people in the Merewent area but 50 people or fewer attend community meetings, said ward councillor Aubrey Snyman.
He said this was the reason the community was facing challenges. Snyman said there were many good people in the community who needed to stand up and take charge of their streets.
“People are quick to criticise on social media platforms but do not attend meetings to address the issues.”
Some of the communities’ concerns were police response times to incidents; poor detective work and investigations; lack of intelligence gathering from police on drug syndicates; informers being exposed to drug dealers by corrupt police officials; no plan to combat drug dealing; suspects being given bail, returning to the streets and intimidating witnesses; and the lack of public trust in the Wentworth SAPS.
The community called for “old school” tactics, such as stop-and-search operations and regular and sporadic raids targeting drug dens, youth gathering on corners and at tuck shops, and drug dealers' homes, without search warrants.
CPF chairperson Charlene Houghton said the community’s concerns and complaints had been handed over to a senior member of the police who was expected to provide feedback once she returns from head office in Pretoria later this week.
The CPF called for additional resources and personnel for the Wentworth police station.
Houghton cited a lack of community participation in programmes including the youth desk. She said a recent youth drive was attended by only eight people. The CPF urged concerned organisations, including faithbased groups, and critics on social media to join hands and bring an end to crime.
CPF public relations officer Andre de Bruin said the CPF was there to listen to the community's concerns and be an intermediary between the community and the police.
Addressing the meeting, Mtshali appealed for a partnership to be formed with community role-players to fight crime. She said police were addressing the root cause of the problem in Wentworth – drug dealers. She called on the community to be the eyes and ears of the police and to continue to provide anonymous tip-offs either in writing or via the police hotline.
Mtshali said plans were in place at a national level to boost the number of police officers on the ground and also to expedite the servicing of vehicles.
“We need intelligence from the community to apprehend criminals and those with firearms. Discussions are under way to redeploy the antigang task team in the area. Merebank has street committees and community patrols. We hope this can be emulated in Wentworth,” she said.
A follow-up meeting will take place in December.
Daily News