Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga, who is also a Democratic Alliance (DA) representative, visited the community of Ivory Park on 12 August as part of the Gauteng premier campaign.
Msimanga spoke to a small group of young people outside the Lord Khanyile Community Hall. The mayor addressed the issue of housing, highlighting that he would try to tackle the problem of the housing backlog as well as issue title deeds to the rightful owners.
“We are aware of the socio-economic issues the community is faced with in regards to housing, crime and employment,” said Msimanga.
Immediately after he addressed the group of young people the mayor and his entourage conducted door-to-door visits around the area, with the aim of finding out more from community members with regards to their needs and the role government can play in aid of their struggles.
The visit lasted just over three hours, with community members coming out of their homes and standing on the streets in the hopes that their problems will also be heard and addressed.
According to these latest statistics, Ivory Park is amongst the top 30 areas countrywide with high murder numbers.
While the annual crime statistics, released by police minister Bheki Cele for the 2017/2018 financial year, clearly indicate that Gauteng has become a haven for criminals, the brutal reality of the impact of crime on communities became glaringly obvious during the Listening Tour in Ivory Park, Johannesburg.
Residents, including the elderly, indicated that they live in fear of crime, particularly of being attacked and robbed in their own homes. Murder and rape are rife, and residents seem to have lost confidence in the police.
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