DESPITE ongoing protest action in Mary Thipe Road, eThekwini council has voted against the establishment of a mobile police station in the area.
According to DA PR councillor for ward 101, Sharmaine Sewshanker, Deputy Mayor Councillor Fawzia Peer denied a motion by Sewshanker and chief whip, Councillor Thabani Mthethwa, for a mobile station to be considered for the area.
“Our motivation for the motion was that there has been an unprecedented increase in serious crime in the Glenmore area in the past six months. Since December there has also been an increase in land invasion in the Glenmore area along Mary Thipe Road. We feel a station would be a deterrent to criminal elements and any form of visible policing would give residents some form of security,” said Sewshanker.
She said the mobile station would also assist Metro Police and SAPS.
“The Deputy Mayor and members in council denied the motion, but Councillor Peer reassured the community that she is working on a solution,” she said.
In response to council’s vote against the motion, Janus Horn, CPF Chairman of Mayville SAPS Subsector 1 B Manor Gardens and spokesperson for the Manor Gardens community, said despite the municipality having obtained a court order to remove land invaders from the area last month, protest action was ongoing.
ALSO READ: Manor Gardens ongoing protests lead to calls for 24-hour security
“There has been no change and myself and my maintenance team along with eight residents took to cleaning up Mary Thipe Road following protest action this month, as no one is taking action to clean up. We have asked for 24 hour police presence but the municipality doesn’t want to do anything, so the protests are just going to continue. We are tired now. The City should be doing preventative maintenance, but they are just coming in afterwards and handling what has happened. This wouldn’t be happening if there was police presence on the road. We asked the Deputy Mayor for a mobile station but we were told this would cost hundreds of thousands of Rands,” he said.
Horn said the situation was getting out of hand and ratepayers who had invested in their properties felt the City was doing nothing to protect them.
“I can’t handle protest action all day, I have a business to run. I feel the City can do more. We need preventative policing, we want a more aggressive approach, rather than the City just sitting back and watching,” he said.
Responding to Berea Mail’s query regarding the possibility of a mobile station int he area, the Municipality spokesman said Metro Police were on the ground during the ongoing protest action, however made no mention of the proposal.
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