The City of Johannesburg has responded to concerns over alleged illegal gambling, public drinking, illegal parking, informal trading, and other by-law infringements along Leeuwkop Road in Sunninghill.

The response follows concerns raised by Ward 93 councillor Vino Reddy, who said residents, commuters, and businesses had reported increasing lawlessness in one of Sunninghill’s primary business districts.

Reddy said residents previously raised concerns over alleged illegal gambling, the sale of alcohol and drugs, harassment of pedestrians, illegal parking, informal trading, and public drinking in the area.

Read more: Johannesburg Water restores Paulshof water supply following major Witkoppen Road repairs

City spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said the city’s citizen relationship and urban management (Crum) department had been engaging with Reddy and the affected communities to address these concerns.

Modingoane said several co-ordinated law enforcement operations had already been undertaken. “There have been law enforcement operations with various stakeholders to target illegalities. We are planning a number of interventions to address lawlessness.

“Ongoing inspections and education campaigns are undertaken with businesses and informal traders. Businesses, whether formal or informal, are given an opportunity to comply within specified timeframes where possible. Failure to comply may lead to enforcement.”

He added that the city had also assessed the growing number of job seekers gathering near Builders Warehouse, where residents have raised concerns about congestion and safety.

Also read: Councillor calls for crackdown in Sunninghill business district to curb reports of crime and disorder

“In our assessment of job seekers, we found that most could not produce documentation proving they were in the country legally.”

According to Modingoane, the city previously met with representatives from Builders Warehouse and JMPD to discuss possible interventions. “Builders Warehouse could not provide space within its premises to accommodate job seekers, despite them being attracted to the area by customers seeking labour.

“We are currently looking at other avenues, such as requesting the department of economic development to establish a database where job seekers would be vetted and customers could make use of that database.”

Modingoane said several operations have been conducted in and around Leeuwkop Road over the past year.

Also read: Pressure mounts on Gauteng Roads to fix faulty Fourways traffic lights

These included ongoing JMPD enforcement around Builders Warehouse targeting illegal parking and issues relating to job seekers, as well as operations to impound non-compliant motorcycles, remove illegal structures, address illegal dumping, educate informal traders, and carry out litter picking and vegetation clearing.

He added that high impact service delivery operations also included rubble removal, road marking, replacement of damaged road signs, traffic light repairs, pothole patching, clearing blocked sewers and street bins, and the removal of illegal structures.

“Illegal parking and antisocial behaviour were addressed.

There have been complaints of public drinking around Builders Warehouse, but perpetrators are usually not found when JMPD patrols the area or responds to complaints.

Ongoing visibility helps in deterring lawlessness. Visibility is ongoing.”

Follow us on our WhatsApp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates!