EMPD clamps down on pavement traders
The action came after authorities had exhausted all other means to convince pavement traders operating without permits to remove their wares.
People operating their small businesses on public land are advised to seek permission from the municipality or risk having their merchandise and equipment confiscated.
As part of an ongoing citywide by-law enforcement exercise to promote a safe and healthy environment for all, EMPD (Boksburg precinct) members swooped on people trading on sidewalks in Boksburg North on November 16.
During the morning operation, the members removed piles of second-hand tyres, illegal advertising boards, and signs illegally erected for outdoor advertising on Trichardts, Cason and Main Reef roads and the adjacent streets.
Officers removed and impounded tyres, posters and advertising boards in contravention of municipal by-laws and obstructing free pedestrian movement, taking the confiscated goods to the Boksburg EMPD pound.
Metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said the traders were warned about the by-law violations and told several times to visit the nearest Customer Care Centre (CCC) to register their businesses lawfully.
On November 16 in Elsburg, EMPD officers from the Germiston precinct’s Parks and Solid Waste departments demolished three makeshift shacks and a dilapidated house at an informal recycling site. The teams also removed bottles being recycled at the site.
The operation follows years of EMPD written warnings to almost 20 unregistered recyclers to evacuate the house in a veld near Van Niekerk Street. Officers will monitor these areas.
Police lend a helping hand
In a positive light, on November 15, the EMPD Anti-Land Invasion Unit and the Ward 60 Clr Phindiwe Qwema visited Katlehong and rebuilt a 68-year-old visually impaired woman’s crumbling shack at an informal settlement called Siphamandla.
The woman, nicknamed ‘Darling’, who hails from Kwazulu-Natal, reportedly ran out of words when she saw the EMPD truck full of building materials park outside her dilapidated shack.
They demolished the crumbling shack, replacing it with a new and better one. The team furnished the shack and attended to the outside leaking water meter.
“Before we are officers, we are human beings,” said the brainchild and organiser of the project, the EMPD’s Mathapelo Mosedi.
Mosedi said she had monitored the gogo for almost a year and pledged to adopt her.
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