Ward 104 business breakfast urges business owners to get involved
BRYANSTON – Business owners are encouraged to regularly check their alarm systems and make sure that all security personnel are verified.
Ward 104 hosted its first business breakfast at the Bryanston Country Club on 11 October and encouraged the unity of business and community.
The concept of the breakfasts is to create a relationship between businesses and communities where both can work together to resolve issues. For many businesses security remains one of the biggest obstacles. Guest speaker, MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun said, “Public safety creates an environment where businesses can thrive [which means] more people are employed and a lot more capital is made.”
He also spoke about their campaign to increase more visible and effective policing.
“We are serious when we say that we do not accept any form of corruption or fraud; we will route them out.”
Unofficially, Sun confirmed that during their first quarterly report it was discovered that according to unaudited police reports, business burglary had decreased by 3.1 per cent. He explained that this is not enough but that they promise to increase the decrease in business-related crimes.
Councillor Mike Wood urged businesses to get on board when tackling issues within and around the ward.
“We need your assistance through ideas, solutions and financial attributions. I know you all pay rates and taxes but if we are going to fix the city, we are all going to have to push a little harder for our future generations,” said Wood.
Sandy Andrew from the Randburg Community Policing Forum urged businesses to regularly check their alarms, which either don’t work or are ineffective. Also that, “Security guards must be verified. Often guards buy their licenses, which means they are untrained to handle any security issue,” said Andrew. Business forums within CPFs prove, according to Andrews, to be a great way to collectively come up with solutions to issues.
Ultimately the overriding message was that businesses must become more involved in their communities.
This includes reporting crimes to the police station and not on social media. A few business owners expressed their worries regarding informal taxi ranks, illegal dumping and the need for policing around crime-prone traffic intersections.
Here are two avenues where illegal dumping and traffic control can be reported:
Illegal dumping: Call, SMS or WhatsApp a picture of the licence plate of the vehicle illegally dumping as well as the items that were dumped, with the date and time, to 082 779 1361.
Metro police 24-hour traffic control: Call, SMS or WhatsApp, 080 872 3342.
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