EDITOR – I am led to believe that the lights of Pipeline Beach car park, after being turned off for about two years, are once again to be turned on as Toti SAP claims they are unable to police the area because it is dark.
What total rubbish. Solicitation, prostitution, drug taking/dealing and alcohol are prolific during daylight hours as well – so where are the police during these hours? By putting the lights on, this will once again make the area a hotspot for everyone up and down the coast to frequent. What SAP will not acknowledge is that this area is controlled by taxi associations who ferry in people, alcohol, drugs and use the taxis for prostitutes’ use, and as we know many policemen are known to work hand in hand or even own taxis, therefore nothing will be done to police this area. The lights are just another pathetic excuse.
When the lights were in use about two years ago, there was car racing and disco parties until early morning. Once the lights were turned off, following numerous meetings with Ethekwini, SAP, Metro Police, Beach and the local ANC councillor, the car racing ended completely. While the disco parties still occur, they now tend to finish up around midnight instead of the early hours of the morning and are now predominantly on weekends.
To turn these lights back on is not the answer to the problem.
There are no lights on the beaches from Toti to Pipeline, so why would putting lights on fix the problems? The lights being turned off has proven itself over the past two years, but now one must assume that the local taxi mafia and whoever else is involved are hell-bent on making money – the real reason they want the lights turned back on.
