Mbombela traders fed-up of drug dealers
NELSPRUIT – Local traders are tired of drug dealers thriving in their midst. They raised their concerns during a meeting with Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Vusi Shongwe, departmental and municipal officials on Wednesday (October 2). Traders’ concerns included the number of criminal activities occurring around their stalls and the police’s slow response …
NELSPRUIT – Local traders are tired of drug dealers thriving in their midst. They raised their concerns during a meeting with Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Vusi Shongwe, departmental and municipal officials on Wednesday (October 2).
Traders’ concerns included the number of criminal activities occurring around their stalls and the police’s slow response when called to assist. They called on the MEC to bring police officers to raid their stalls, as this will reveal which traders sell drugs.
One of the representatives told the MEC that criminals use their stalls as hiding places and sometimes steal their goods. “We know the people who gamble next to our stalls and later commit crime. We also know those who sell drugs next to our stalls but they cannot be dealt with without the police,” said the representative. Another of the complaints was about people who conduct their business using irregularly issued permits by some officials from the municipality. The traders have asked the MEC to also deal with corrupt officials.
Shongwe promised the traders that he would request the police to investigate the alleged corrupt activities relating to the issuing of trading permits. “We have heard a lot of concerns about Mbombela and together with the police and other stakeholders we will not rest until we have completely dealt with all the criminals and the drug dealers. We cannot allow a few people to dent the image of our beautiful city. Crime is among the factors that will cripple the economy of our city,” Shongwe said.
He added that there is a need for an integrated plan for all provinces to fight the scourge of crime as some criminals move around to different provinces to commit crime.
The Executive Mayor, Councilor Cathy Dlamini, also commented on the issue, saying that they are doing their utmost best to ensure that the city is clean. She added that the Municipality would ensure that all traders are registered in their database before the end of October 2013 to avoid illegal trading.
