A joint law enforcement operation in the Brakpan CBD recently saw a crackdown on those contravening municipal by-laws.
The operation was conducted by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department, the SAPS and the Ekurhuleni Metro Waste Department.
“The special by-law operation was prompted by several complaints of rising crime in the Brakpan Central Business District, with dilapidated and disused buildings occupied by drug-users and suspected of harbouring criminals,” said EMPD spokesperson Lieut-Col Wilfred Kgasago.
Squatters, drug dealers and prostitutes are a common sight in the Brakpan CBD.
A concerned Brakpan resident recently wrote to the Herald about the settlement of squatters in the park behind the swimming pool, along Gardiner Avenue (Herald, March 25, Your views, ‘No longer proud‘).
“It started with two to six homeless people sleeping under the trees with blankets,” wrote the resident.
“After a few days of rain, there are now plastic tents and washing all over the netball fields at the Charl Baard Stadium.
“This is creating another eyesore for our town.”
According to Kgasago, the operation saw numerous illegal signs removed, illegal shacks brought down, vendors occupying pavements and obstructing pedestrians removed and tons of goods and material confiscated.
“Operations of this nature will be conducted periodically until a complete clean-up of the CBD is realised,” he added.
By-laws are laws passed by the municipality that regulate activities within the City of Ekurhuleni.
It is vital that individuals and businesses conduct their daily activities within the boundaries of these rules, which exist to maintain order.
From October to December, last year, the Ekurhuleni Metro carried out a series of by-law enforcement blitzes, aimed at identifying critical issues within communities that require intervention, as well as to detect practices which contravene by-laws.
These blitzes were focused on overgrown grass, maintenance of parks, potholes, non-functional street lights, illegal posters, illegal dumping and littering, water leaks and pipe blockages, illegal taverns, missing manhole covers and dilapidated buildings.
