South African Police patrol the streets of Durban

THE South African Police service have increased police visibility in the streets of Durban ahead of the festive season. Station commander of uMbilo Police Station, Colonel Richard Ximba, with his second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Perumall and their other officers, were out in full force on the streets of Glenwood and surroundings as they patrolled and showed visibility to the public ahead of the festive season.

Colonel Ximba said, “With the festive season around the corner, it is important that we go out and increase our visibility to curb the rise of crime happening around this time and to let people know that we are here and we are ready.”

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Many people stood in groups as they watched the police convoys together with local security company Blue Security patrol the streets and attend to any suspicious activities in the area.

The National Intelligence Unit, a wing of the South African Police, has been praised lately because of the number of drug busts they’ve made and their attention to hijackings and heists lately, so much so that many people have said the NIU has really proven themselves helpful and efficient in dealing with the number of crime incidents and hijackings taking place in KwaZulu-Natal.

This increased police visibility comes just weeks after a police warrant officer who was part of the NIU wing, Warrant Officer Sithembiso Mazibuko, was fatally shot in Ntuzuma township when a shoot-out ensued between the police and suspects who were well-known to be terrorising people.

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Minister Bheki Cele, who spoke at the funeral of Mazibuko, said, “I am quite worried; these are the groups that sit down to plan and plot to kill the police. So, they are not just doing crime; they are developing this plan to eliminate the police.”

Colonel Ximba said these patrols are going to work beyond the festive season because crime doesn’t only exist during the holidays.

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