Councillor hands over list of concerns to Metro Police
Ward 31 councillor, Christopher Pappas, met with Metro Police to address problem areas in his ward.
A LIST of issues affecting residents of Sydenham, Overport, Asherville and Musgrave has been handed over to Metro Police by Ward 31 councillor, Christopher Pappas.
Pappas met with Senior Superintendent Morgan Subramany, Divisional Commander of Central Suburbs of Metro Police, last week, to discuss the issues raised by residents. Pappas said as the representative for the comunity it was important for him to work closely with various municipal services. “We all have a tendency to complain but do not take active steps towards finding solutions to our problems,” he said.
This was Pappas’ third meeting with various regional municipal service providers where information gathered from the community was used to draw up a plan of action for himself and for the buy-in of the municipal officials.
“The aim of this process is to make sure that we get the basics right and that we try to address the issues that are closest to the residents’ hearts,” he said.
In his letter handed over to Senior Superintendent Subramany, Pappas highlighted a number of issues on Sparks Road, including speeding, double parking and illegal parking, harassment of pedestrians and shoppings by Sparks Road car guard, illegal businesses, vendors/street traders and the need for more visible policing on Sparks Road. It also raised the issue for speed prosecution on Rippon Road.
Other issues raised included the problem caused by buses and taxis stopping at the intersection of Burnwood and Clare Roads, taxis and bus chaos outside Kwik Spar on Randles Road, the unnecessary use of hooters by taxis from early hours, cardboard recycling collection points, taxis using the wrong lane to turn from Durban Christian Centre into Waterfall Road at the bridge, taxis parking on the corner of Clayton Road and Dunnottar causing traffic flow problems and taxis in Crouch Road picking up school pupils, forcing vehicles to mount the curb to get around them.
“We also pointed out the theft of bins from Felix Dlamini Road by people who use the bins for recycling purposes, the need for more visible policing around Musgrave Centre and buses and taxis causing chaos outside Musgrave Centre while picking up and dropping passengers and blocking entrances to flats. I also mentioned the problem of vagrants at intersections and the increase in the number of people asking for money at intersections, with the intersection of St Thomas and Stephen Dlamini being especially problematic,” he said.
Pappas highlighted other concerns among which were theft of bins, crime in Berea Park and safety in and around the park, vagrants sleeping and defecating on the Musgrave Road bridge, the Juniper Road traffic and the after hours noise from the Berea Park sports grounds.
He said Senior Superintendent Subramany was enthusiastic about tackling the issues and Pappas indicated he would be doing follow-ups on the issues he had raised with Subramany.
“I believe Metro Police work hard at their jobs but the extreme lack of resources and manpower limits their capacity to enforce the law. If the city was serious about safety and enforcing bylaws they would give our men and women in blue the means to do their jobs. However, I am positive that as a community we can work together towards creating a safe and clean place to live, work and play,” said Pappas.
