Pretoria - Government is increasing its efforts to fight crime in Nyanga on the Cape Flats.
Among the efforts is the increase of the police in the area. The Nyanga cluster received an additional 41 police members, who commenced duty on 8 August 2016, the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster told the community on Thursday.
They cluster was in the area, which battles a high murder rate, as part of government's National Imbizo Focus Week, aimed at engaging communities on issues that matter the most to them.
Nyanga residents had requested a mobile police station in the Browns Farm area. Government went beyond the call, providing a fully-fledged satellite police station, which provides significantly more services than a mobile station.
The Browns Farm satellite police station provides a 24-hour service that enables the police to respond quickly to complaints and cases of crime in the area.
About 101 stabilisation members from around the country have been deployed at the Nyanga cluster since June 2016 to curb crime in the area.
A total of 5 509 crime fighting operations have been implemented in the area, resulting in 23 650 arrests. About 385 firearms and 3 207 rounds of ammunition were confiscated and removed from the streets during the crime fighting operations and over 68 980 litres of liquor were confiscated from illegal outlets in the area.
3 163 crime awareness campaigns were conducted in the area to educate the community about ways to prevent and report crimes.
Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Kgomotso Phahlane said: “The cluster was grateful to have an opportunity to give feedback to the community about the progress that government has made in dealing with their concerns expressed at the last engagement.”
Police Deputy Minister Makhotso Sotyu said government had considered it important to come back to Nyanga to give feedback to the community. She said while not all challenges in the area had not been fully resolved, there has been remarkable progress made and government remains committed to dealing with the remaining issues.
In response to calls for the JCPS Cluster to deal with drugs and gangsterism in the Mitchells Plain area, Deputy Minister Sotyu committed that she would see to it that the cluster visited the area in the near future.
The cluster called on community members to actively participate in building an ideal South Africa. - SAnews.gov.za
