High Court forces Mandeni to control public revelry at Tugela Mouth
If this is not done, then the TMRPA can call in private security to do the job, with the municipality liable to foot the bill.
The Mandeni municipality may soon be forced to pay for private security to maintain law and order at Tugela Mouth following an urgent High Court order obtained last week.
This comes after the community has faced consistent issues with regards to by-law enforcement, which came to a head on Friday when the Tugela Mouth Ratepayers Association (TMRPA) enlisted the help of private security.
The TMRPA allege this had become necessary after the municipality failed to honour its festive season plans to hold roadblocks and stop alcohol from reaching the beaches.
“Roadblocks are meant to be manned daily from 8am to 8pm according to the municipality. There was none in place on Friday, which was a public holiday and Rhino Security later arrived to help,” said the association.
The TMRPA said it had raised the possibility of instituting private security when meeting with municipal officials on December 7, but never heard back from them.
When Rhino Security arrived, members of the public became agitated, tearing down multiple road signs, including one which carried a no alcohol message.
“Police later arrived, telling the security officers they had no paperwork for setting up an alcohol checkpoint. They then set up a roadblock, but there were already many people drunk on the beach and in parking lots,” said the TMRPA.
The next morning, the TMRPA was granted an urgent order by justice ZP Nkosi in the Durban High Court.
The order stipulates that the municipality and minister of police need to comply with the original 2019 court case won by the TMRPA.
This includes holding roadblocks, ensuring visible policing, erecting a manned boom gate and timeously attending to reports from the association.
If this is not done, then the TMRPA can call in private security to do the job, with the municipality liable to foot the bill.
“The first respondent (Mandeni municipality) is directed to pay the costs of securing such security services in the event of the applicant being required to utilise the services of a private security company,” reads the order.
Given historical implementation of the 2019 judgment, this seems a likely outcome unless the municipality completely shifts its implementation of by-law policing.
The municipality did not respond to a request for comment.
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