Church organisation bands together with Wentworth community to tackle crime
During the meeting, police representatives heard how Wentworth has seemingly transitioned from being a neighbourhood to a ‘warzone’.
A public meeting to find solutions to the crime and safety concerns in the Wentworth community was held by the Communities Building Credible Ownership KZN (CBCO KZN), at the Austerville Civic Hall, recently.
The interdenominational non-governmental church-based organisation was formed in 1997. They are based in Wentworth and have a church on the Bluff.
Reverend Canon Cierigh Samaai, the chairperson of CBCO KZN, said there were about 250 people in attendance at the meeting, which included community members, school principals, public officials, NGOs, among others.
Among those in attendance, also included eThekwini district commander, Brigadier VJ Cele; Wentworth station commander, Colonel Sinayo Mtshali; ward 68 councillor, Aubrey Snyman and ward 66 councillor, Zoë Solomon.
Samaai said during the meeting, one of the concerns raised, was that a total of 535 streetlights were not working in wards 66 and 68.
“These are statistics for 147 streets, as not all streets were included in this audit. However, this will be followed up by the CBCO task team.
“During the meeting, police representatives heard how Wentworth has seemingly transitioned from being a neighbourhood to a ‘warzone’. Excerpts from news websites dating back to 2021were read out, which described the drive-by shootings, protest marches by mothers to the Wentworth police station, turf-wars, and drug related shootings,” he said.
Samaai said police representatives said they were committed to tackling these issues by increasing boots on the ground and have embarked on joint operations with the neighbouring stations.
“They said that they have a team from metro police and organised crime that they work with on an ongoing basis. They also informed the community in attendance that they are committed to serve them, as well as patrol and provide police visibility in the area,” he said.
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