No more funny business
MELVILLE - City officials take businesses in Melville and Greenside to task at a meeting held last week.
Director for Region B, Vicky Shuping, and councillor for Ward 87, Amanda Forsythe, engaged business owners of Melville and Greenside in a meeting to address the launch of a sustained plan of action on 23 January at Catz Pyjamas.
The initiative will include raids and inspections.
Some of the role players who presented included Laban Naidoo of town planning, Zanozuko Mbane of the Department of Environmental Health, and Phillip Mosiane of the Emergency Management Services.
“The intention is a full audit: a clean slate with everyone following the law,” explained Forsythe. “Due to lots of problems over the past two years there is now a need to conduct raids and inspections and we should see a lot of change in the business nodes of Melville and Greenside. The point of this meeting is to help iron out these problems.”
The councillor added the business nodes of Melville and Greenside are in close proximity to residents and should be supported by them instead of the current trend of local businesses becoming a nuisance to locals.
“We are affording businesses the opportunity to get their houses in order before we proceed with our initiative,” noted Shuping. “We don’t want to close down businesses; we want thriving, legal operations to return Melville and Greenside to their former glory.”
The main problems plaguing trade in the suburbs include contraventions of the Liquor Act, noise pollution, drug dealing, fire, safety and health hazards, and, increasingly, pavement encroachment.
Colonel J P Rautenbach from the police’s Provincial Liquor Board said that businesses operating illegally are on the rise.
“Restaurants aren’t just restaurants anymore – they are either a pub or a nightclub, so drinks are served after the cut-off time. People stay later and so noise has become a big concern all over,” said Rautenbach.
Each department issued a checklist ensure compliance. However, due to time constraints, representatives of Johannesburg Roads Agency, Joburg Water and Pikitup could not address businesses.
