Blitz drive to clean up Edenvale CBD

A three week blitz operation to clean up the Edenvale CBD is underway.

The initiative is a multidisciplined approach to bylaw enforcement and visible service delivery, which aims to fight crime and grime in the heart of Edenvale.

“In November last year, the Edenvale City Improvement District (ECID) management met with the head of Ekurhuleni’s Urban Management team and the question was asked why Edenvale was not part of the Ekurhuleni blitz drive,” said Mrs Linda McKenzie, the manager for the ECID.

A decision was taken to include Edenvale in the 2015 blitz operations, starting with the CBD.

She explained that in the lead up to the operation, officials worked with ECID management to identify all the problems in the CBD area.

“A list of 385 issues was identified in the CID area. These included potholes, missing manhole covers, street signs and possible bylaw infringements,” said Mrs McKenzie.

“Each and every issue identified was then logged with Ekurhuleni and sent to the relevant departments for their immediate attention,” she added.

On Thursday, February 19, approximately 200 employees, officials and law enforcement officers descended on the Edenvale CBD.

“Businesses found to be trading illegally, or dealing in stolen goods, were closed down and fined, drug dealers were arrested and issues such as illegal dumping were addressed,” said Mrs McKenzie.

With the assistance of the Edenvale SAPS Crime Prevention Unit, a zero tolerance approach was taken with regards to crime in the CBD.

“One of the man focusses of the SAPS was vehicle related crimes,” she said.

Mrs McKenzie said she was delighted that a large number of issues identified during the operation were resolved.

“The operation will continue throughout Edenvale. We will take on one area at a time. Each area will have a chance to identify certain issues, a list will be compiled and teams will be dispatched,” she said.

Mrs McKenzie added that issues logged are not allowed to be closed until a supervisor has inspected the work completed.

“Only if the supervisor is happy with the completed work will the complaint be closed,” she said.

“When the operation was launched, we were told that due to the years of decay in Edenvale, all the issues in Edenvale cannot be addressed in just one week,” said Mrs McKenzie.

She added that Ekurhuleni has undertaken to hold the blitz operation in Edenvale each year.

“By eradicating crime and grime in Edenvale, we are simultaneously also getting to the underlying issues. In short, a lack of service delivery in Edenvale directly impacts on crime levels,” she said.

Residents who would like to report issues in Edenvale, which should be attended to during the operation, can send an email to lindamckenzie04@gmail.com