Call for province to expand drug and safety focus into Berea suburbs

WARD councillors representing the greater Berea area have called on the KZN Department of Community Safety and Liaison to expand its drug and safety focus to include the wards they represent.

At a recent meeting, it was made clear that Albert Park and the CBD were the focus of the province's new strategy. Ward 33 councillor, Nicole Graham, said while the DA supported and welcomed this, the

communities of Glenwood, Umbilo, Musgrave and Morningside have increasingly felt the affects of whoonga, vagrancy and drug-related crimes.

“This is exacerbated by the city's Urban Management Zone (UMZ) programme, which has seen a significant improvement in cleanliness and safety in central Durban.

However, this has also meant that many of the problems have been pushed further up onto the Berea, where no additional support or security has been provided. The current staffing issues within SAPS, which has seen the departure of senior

officers at both Umbilo and Berea SAPS, have affected the fight against crime and the response to the drug problem in the city,” she said.

Councillor Graham, along with councillor Jethro Leferve of Musgrave and councillor Martin Meyer of Morningside, have repeatedly called for the expansion of the UMZ programmes into their wards, but to no avail. They said the involvement of councillors in solving these issues has also been poor, further diluting the voices of the residents who elected them.

“A strategy looking at safety and drugs must also deal with sex work, and the devastating effects the combined industries are having on the lower Berea area. Drugs, prostitution and crime have overtaken certain areas and policing alone has not improved the

situation,” said Graham.

She said the DA would continue to support initiatives to make the city cleaner and safer, but hopefully not at the expense of the Berea.

“Our residents deserve to live in clean, safe and drug-free communities,” she said.