Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba prioritises the safety of students
JOHANNESBURG – Executive Mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba has vowed to protect students from criminals in the City.
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Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has assured Joburg residents that hijacked buildings will be secured to create a safe environment in the inner-city for students.
The mayor said criminals robbed students of their belongings and hid in these hijacked buildings. He added that the safety of students should not be compromised.
“How am I going to provide the safety of students if their residences are surrounded by hijacked buildings?” asked Mashaba.
“These criminals take their laptops and run into those buildings and you can not find them. These are some of the challenges we are facing.”
With the increasing number of crimes around the city, the mayor had launched Operation Buya Mthetho to help create safety in the city. However, the mushrooming of crime in the city has seen the City of Johannesburg launch the new Integrated Intelligent Operation Centre (IOC) Reaction Unit.
The launching of the new unit will be a sigh of relief for the students in the inner-city as 80 undercover Metro police officers will be deployed in the area.
The City’s IOC will monitor City-owned CCTV cameras 24 hours a day, using technology such as licence plate and facial recognition. The unit will focus on combating street crimes reported on a daily basis in the inner-city.
MMC for Public Safety Michael Sun told the officers at the launch of the unit to deal harshly with criminals.
“Don’t negotiate with lawbreakers. We did not send you for training and give you pistols and handcuffs so you can negotiate with criminals,” said Sun.
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