New Sector 4 chair is ready for action
NORWOOD – Strategies will be brainstormed and implemented to deal with the sector’s plagues.
Norwood Community Police Forum (CPF) Sector 4 recently welcomed its newly elected chairperson.
Mongi Maphipha, who is also the founding member of the #LeanOnMe campaign against drugs, was elected into the role just before the municipal elections in October last year.
Maphipha said his main focus in Sector 4 would be in Orange Grove which was the most problematic suburb in this area. “There is a lot going on that we need to address. There is prostitution, drugs and ‘house hijackings’. My main concern here is the number of school dropouts. I have so much love for the youth, so seeing them on the streets along Louis Botha, loitering during school hours is worrisome,” said Maphipha.
He added that the drug ‘lean’ had been a problem in parks around the area where they had picked up bottles of cough syrup with the remains of crystal meth inside. Bunking school was also a problem observed by the CPF chair as he often saws children loitering around in their school uniforms.
“The population here is also increasing which leads to lawlessness. Car parking on Louis Botha is a mess, we even have one lane closed whereas we are supposed to have two lanes. One day that will lead to an accident.”
The chairperson added that many people didn’t know the CPF’s role as sometimes they were asked to evict people which was not their job. “Ours is to actually mediate between the community and SAPS. If we get a report of drugs, we speak to the SAPS then push them to do something about those drugs.
“My personal approach in dealing with crime is preventing crime before it happens. So, if we see a lot of kids dropping out of school or who have finished school and are looking for jobs, what we then do is to come up with programmes that will keep those children busy instead of waiting till they commit a crime and get arrested.”
He said as the CPF executive they tried to come up with strategies to deal with all these problems. “Last year, we held an educational campaign for hawkers about where they can get information on licences to trade formally. We are not about fighting our community, we are about educating and informing them.”
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