Bonteheuwel will be able to sleep a little bit easier soon as 100 Law Enforcement officers will be deployed in the gang-ridden area.
The officers will start working the beat in June, says Mayor Dan Plato.
Plato, Mayco Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, along with Ward councillor, Angus McKenzie, yesterday inspected the progress of the cops, who will form part of the Neighbourhood Safety Team (NST) in Bontas.
Plato said the concept was first launched in Delft in 2017, and in February this year, it was rolled out to Bishop Lavis.
The City pumped R32 million into Bishop Lavis, Valhalla Park and Bonteheuwel for the expansion of the NST.
It has also allocated R4.6m towards CCTV cameras.
“This NST will help to address a long-standing need in Bonteheuwel where calls for a dedicated police station have been growing in recent months,” Plato says.
“It is not within the City’s power and mandate to deli-
ver a police station, but we are able to provide more municipal policing resources to the area and that is what we are in the process of doing.”
Smith said the team has a broad mandate: “Staff are expected to address service-related matters, whether broken street lights or missing drain covers, work with schools and other stakeholders in the area to address truancy and other challenges, tackle by-law infringements and suppress any other threats to the safety and well-being of the community.
“We also need residents to be in our corner and to work with us to weed out the bad elements that have run riot for far too long,” Smith adds.
McKenzie said the new officers would go a long way in making mense feel safer.
“While this may not be the silver bullet to stopping gangsterism, it sure will go a long way in ensuring we have visible policing, active patrols and a sense of peace and safety in our community.”
Resident Avril Taylor, 59, says: “I cannot let my grandchildren play outside or go to the shop. They need to be escorted to school and we must be afraid to go to work.
“These officers can only improve our current situation.”