The Randfontein police and traffic police raided the Delmas bridge quasi-informal settlement in Homelake on Friday, 9 December.
The decision to investigate and search the area came after various complaints from residents around the area. They have been reporting thefts which they believe stem from what is growing into a full-blown informal settlement.
Numbers of police personnel searched the area for stolen goods but found nothing particularly suspicious, although some of the residents in the area were questioned about where they had obtained certain items.
They also found a woman with two daughters, one a disabled 7-year-old and the other aged 13, living out in the open, in desperate circumstances. Their case tugged at the heartstrings of Brigadier Mashole Jacob Manamela, the Randfontein station commander, who subsequently reached out to those who are able to assist them find a safe place to live.
Both the police and the traffic police agreed that the area needs to be cleared of the make-shift structures and then cleaned up, in order to start rehabilitating it and hopefully ward off vagrants.
When Kenny Mampondo, the Traffic Police Chief, questioned the vagrants about where they are originally from, he was surprised to find some came from as far away as Lesotho, and that they have been living in the open space for going on 15 years.
The police now plan to assist the people to find homes, thus curing the problem once and for all, and to join hands with the Rand West City Local Municipality in cleaning up the area.
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