NEW ward 32 councillor, Protas Mngonyama has made crime in the Durban Central his top priority.
“There are two major crimes; armed robbery and the selling of drugs. We might not eradicate all of it but we are going to decrease it. We just created a community policing forum which will work closely with the local police,” said Mngonyama.
“The biggest problem we have in this ward is that it’s an entry point. People from all over the country and the world come here to Durban central and it gets overpopulated.”
Mngonyama, 50, handily won the ward by-election retaining the seat for the African National Congress (ANC). Ward 32 covers Durban central to Clairwood.
Mngonyama is originally from Ixopo, south of Durban. He said he came to Durban in 1990 as a bright-eyed ANC activist looking for work.
Over the years, Mngonyama has occupied several branch positions within the party before finally being chosen to run as a councillor this year.
Mngonyama will be replacing Romeo Zuma, who unceremoniously stepped down in 2018 after reports that he survived an assassination hit.
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“I am not at liberty to discuss that, you will have to ask provincial leadership,” said Mngonyama when asked about his predecessor.
The leadership vacuum left by Zuma has created animosity between residents and the local government.
Something that Mngonyama has promised to change by being more visible and accessible to his constituents.
“We are going to be here at the office, available 24/7. That tendency (of not being accessible) ends now because people want service delivery,” he said.
Mngonyama added he will soon be creating a Facebook page soon for residents to raise issues which will be monitored daily.
One of the burning issues affecting Durban Central right now is foreign street vendors by The Workshop being afraid to return to their stalls after being intimidated by members of uMkhonto WeSizwe Military Veterans Association.
Mngonyama said his doors are open for engagement with foreign leadership.
“We are a country governed by laws and everyone living in South Africa is protected by those laws and has to abide by them. No one has the right to wake up one day and just intimidate people, in a matter like that we are calling on police to enforce the law,” he said.
Mngonyama, along with the other newly elected Durban councillors, is going to be officially sworn into council on Monday.
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