Behave, or face wrath of new bylaws, warns city

LOCALS and holidaymakers alike have been warned to put their best foot forward and be on their best behaviour when out in public in Durban over the holiday break. The Municipality has instructed its law officers to be strict about enforcing the new Nuisance and Behaviour in Public Places bylaws which came into effect on 11 March.

EThekwini Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa said since implementing the new bylaws, law enforcement operations had been held in which the City issued 132 summonses for public drinking. She said no arrests were made.

“Bylaw enforcement forms part of the core competencies for Metro Police besides traffic enforcement and crime prevention, and therefore enforcement is continuous. The process of community engagement is on-going and we aim to incrementally change public behaviour as awareness is raised,” she said.

In a Facebook post on 19 March, a call went out to the media from a Metro Police official, following a meeting on 18 March to finalise procedures related to the new bylaws, to urge people not to drink in public. He said if people were caught drinking in public and had ID on them, they would receive a summons for R2 500, and a date to appear in court. The statement said transgressors would be arrested and jailed if they were caught drinking in public, and don't have ID.

“The aim of legislation isn't to incarcerate, but to educate not to commit the offence. Today alone we have written 32 summons, and we are increasing enforcement throughout the holidays,” he said on social media.

Ward councillor, Martin Meyer, added his voice of warning to the public. “This has been a problem for a while, please note that public drinking in our city is illegal and you will be fined.”

The aim of the new bylaws was to provide measures to regulate and control conduct or behaviour which causes, or is likely to cause, discomfort, annoyance or inconvenience.

Metro Police and other officials have been trained over the past few months to effectively enforce the bylaw, which relates to nuisance behaviour in public places, vegetation, hanging of items on fences, wall, balconies and verandas, noise, litter, conduct regarding vehicles such as washing and repairing vehicles in public spaces, obstructing, blocking or disturbing traffic and pedestrians, excavation in public places, weed-killers, herbicides, poisons and pesticides, vandalism of municipal property and nuisance arising from the use of premises.

According to Tozi Mthethwa, any person convicted of an offence under this bylaw will be liable to a fine not exceeding R40 000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or to both the fine and imprisonment. In the case of continued offence, an additional fine of an amount not exceeding R200 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 days for each day on which the offence continues, will be imposed. The amount of the fine will be determined on the offence committed.

Councillor Meyer said residents needed to be aware that bylaw enforcement was primarily the task of Metro Police, not SAPS, and that, if people saw violations of this or any other bylaw they should report it to 031 361 0000.