MELVILLE – Metro police and Emergency Management Services conducted a joint Operation Buya Mthetho Night Life on 5 February after numerous complaints were received by disgruntled residents.
Several residents lodged complaints to the Department of Public Safety regarding the unscrupulous and non-compliant manner in which some of the establishments in the area conducted their businesses. The grievances ranged from criminal activities, blatant by-law infringements and non-adherence to traffic regulations.
The department deployed 80 Metro police officers, two emergency services inspectors and 37 traffic wardens to conduct the operation and 11 establishments were thoroughly inspected for safety compliance and crime prevention.
Seven of these businesses were found to be non-compliant and issued with citations and four were closed down for contravening various fire safety regulations which post serious safety risks to their patrons. Further contraventions ranged from no emergency exits, no signage on escape routes to no fire extinguishers.
Michael Sun MMC for Public Safety said, “We want to support businesses in the city and see them flourish, but ensuring safety and combatting criminal activities are non-negotiable. When the residents in Melville told us what was happening, we took immediate action to deal with the problems. We hope through intervention and guidance, the contraventions will be rectified and businesses can continue to serve their patrons legally and safely.
“We also want to state in no uncertain terms that Operation Buya Mthetho will be a regular occurrence in the area and we will be involving other role players such as the Gauteng Provincial Liquor Board, Environmental Health and the South African Police Services as part of the operation.”
It is the department’s position that businesses and residents must thrive in unity and respect each other’s rights and no contraventions will be left undealt with.
“Operation Buya Mthetho Night Life will continue every week to ensure offenders adhere to the laws and by-laws,” said Sun.
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