AFTER the murder of a Lewis Drive resident last week, Amanzimtoti stakeholders came together on Tuesday morning, 1 March, to discuss uniting the entire area under a combined crime strategy.
‘Crime Must Fall’ was the rallying cry that moved Amanzimtoti Community Policing Forum (CPF) to call a meeting at the police station lecture room, where a broad range of stakeholders discussed how best to formulate a strategy to combat the rising crime tide in Toti.
Among the stakeholders was representation from the tourism industry, business sector, Metro Police, Toti SAPS, eThekwini Municipality Safer Cities department, Community Crime Prevention Organisation (CCPO), ward councillors, the local drug action committee, primary and high schools in the station’s jursidictional area, among others.
“While we can state with the utmost confidence that crime is not out of control, it has systematically picked up and is becoming more violent,” said the CPF’s Tommy Ackermann.
This was of concern, and “…without apportioning blame, we need to find commonalities among us that unite us in our bid to disperse crime from Toti, for the benefit of the entire area.”
A stakeholders briefing document outlined how the community, which is diverse in that it includes suburban, semi-rural and rural areas, remains fragmented and needs a united, common approach to fighting crime.
The CPF has proposed a public meeting to be held on Thursday, 17 March at the civic centre, where residents have a platform to provide input, raise concerns and suggest solutions to the crime gripping the area. Senior police management will be on hand to hear the concerns and formulate possible solutions.
This will assist in the formulation of a memorandum of understanding to be handed over to the Minister of Police, Nkosinathi Nhleko at a peaceful walk against crime, police killings and social ills on Saturday, 2 April. The CPF hopes to engage with Minister Nhleko for a few hours directly after the handover, in a bid to have pro-active resolutions come from the engagement.
CPF chairman, Maestro Mncibi said one burning issue to be discussed was the need to consider stagnant resources against the backdrop of the area’s growing population. These and similar concerns would potentially form part of the memorandum.
While there wasn’t consensus from all roleplayers that a peaceful awareness walk and public meeting was the best option to resolve the growing crime problem, he said it was important to bring people together to “focus their energy on their common enemy”.
Some of the social ills raised included prostitution and drugs, which were also seen to be creating an environment for crime to flourish.
Newly elected CCPO chairman, George Lithgow cited the need for Amanzimtoti to adopt New York’s ‘broken window’ policy in tackling smaller social problems as the root to dealing with bigger issues such as crime. He said one step in the right direction was the new bylaws, which if implemented, would assist in addressing some of these. However, this should be the start of a bigger catalyst.
“Toti cannot afford any more bad publicity. We need to act to get a grip on crime every day,”
“Toti cannot afford any more bad publicity. We need to act to get a grip on crime every day,” he said. He suggested that Toti take up Umhlanga’s example by forging ahead as an Urban Improvement Precinct (UIP), which entailed having a 51% buy-in from residents to fund a private entity that polices and manages these smaller but vital issues related to verges, derelict or abandoned properties and similar infrastructure-related issues.
Concerns about the involvement of the schools in the walk, with scholars being potentially volatile and difficult to control, were raised, as well as the infiltration of drugs into schools.
A Safer Cities representative said the Lotus Park area had held two such walks and handed over two memos, which had yet to result in a positive outcome to the crime gripping that area.
Ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge said he didn’t believe a walk or public meeting would resolve the crisis. He urged for more focus to be placed on an united approach to practical crime fighting.
The CPF meeting adjourned with representatives of security companies, the CCPO, Metro Police and Toti SAPS getting together to strategise for practical measures to implement against crime immediately.
The CPF will move forward with its plans for the meeting and walk.
#CRIMEMUSTFALL
