Efforts to combat illegal occupation of empty property made through raid
ROSEBANK – Rosebank Police Station spokesperson Sergeant Bongi Mdletshe confirmed that all stakeholders that took part in the raid were supportive in the initiative to clean the vacant land and thanked them for their support.
Police and security companies raided an empty property in Rosebank on Sturdee Avenue opposite the Rosebank Primary School, demolishing shacks and plucking out dagga planted illegally on 6 February.
Residents had previously complained to the Rosebank Police Station about the empty stand where displaced people had set up shacks. The Rosebank Killarney Gazette reported in an article titled Empty Rosebank property causes problems [Week ending 31 January] that residents complained of the smoke emitted, from activities by the displaced people such as smoking dagga and using firewood to cook food, into their flats. The property was since then fenced but the displaced people had continued to stay there anyway.
Rosebank Police Station spokesperson Sergeant Bongi Mdletshe confirmed that all stakeholders that took part in the raid were supportive in the initiative to clean the vacant land and thanked them for their support.
Sean Mantel from Special Ops 99 Security spoke about the operation on the property and said that there had been many reports of marijuana drifting into nearby apartments and even at the nearby school. “We cleared out a lot of structures and paraphernalia as well as drugs. If every security company in the area gets involved with the local community as well as the SAPS, we can make a big difference,” Mantel said.
Watch:
The two occupants who were present took their belongings and vacated the area. Mdletshe added that they will continue to monitor the situation, which includes making sure that the property has no displaced people until a building is erected.
Related article:
