WHILE the turnout for the second Durban North SAPS community imbizo was poor, members from the station, Metro Police and the Durban North CPF used it as a way to address crime in the area.

The imbizo, which was held at the Umhlanga Ski-Boat Club, was also a way for residents and various roleplayers, to voice their concerns or address service delivery issues.

The Durban North police station was represented by Station Commander Colonel Jericho Nkomo, Visible Policing (Vispol) Commander Lieutenant Colonel Pam Nair and Captain Tracy Mey, commander of the Crime Information Management and Analysis Centre (CIMAC).

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Chairperson of the uMhlanga Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association (URRA), Terri MacLarty, was also present and raised several issues about flouting of the law in uMhlanga village, especially on weekends.

Some residents and members of neighbourhood watches also questioned Metro Police on cases of drinking in public.

Spokesperson for the police station, Sergeant Nonhlanhla Shozi, said she was grateful for the opportunity to strengthen ties with the community.

“These community engagements are focused on addressing crimes impacting the communities we serve. Captain Mey once again touched on the phishing scams targeting the elderly where suspects pose as bank officials and concoct a story asking you to provide confidential information. Unfortunately there are more cases involving the 60+ community. We have also noticed a trend of company invoices being intercepted and being used to defraud other businesses.

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“Quite often the suspects take a legitimate invoice and change the banking details. Our advice in this particular case is to always make sure the banking details are legitimate or to phone the business involved to ensure the details are correct. These are the most common scams and we’ve recorded a number of cases at the station,” she said.

Several attendees to the meeting also brought up the matter of homeless people moving into the area, with a suggestion that some may be involved in criminal activity.

At the meeting there was a proposal to move the meetings to weekday evenings or weekends to allow for more residents to attend and have their voices heard.

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