AS part of Operation Good Hope, the South Durban Basin Area Based Management Unit (SDB ABM) together with Metro Police, successfully conducted an intensive enforcement blitz on Wednesday, 10 February in Clairwood.
The operation commenced on Archery Road and continued to various busy roads, where police members were tasked with charging various criminal offences such as unlicensed vehicles, unlicensed businesses, hawkers and other traffic violations. Members of the SDB ABM monitored service delivery issues in the area as well as provided support, assistance and guidelines to local businesses to ensure operational compliance.
According to Metro Police’s Captain Samuel Singh, the following charges were made on the day: road obstructions (five), failure to wear a mask (five), hawkers (four), unlicenced vehicles (seven), no card operators (one), suspended truck/tractor (two) and vehicles parked on sidewalks (10).
The purpose of this interdepartmental enforcement is to improve the socioeconomic and infrastructural conditions of the whole of eThekwini Municipality. The operation is part of a multi-dimensional approach to service delivery consisting of elements such a clean-up, compliance enforcement as well as conditional assessment of the area.
SDB ABM’s Irene Chetty noted that proper coordinated service delivery yields productive service provision. “Sharing of resources allows a smooth flow operation. Community engagement is important when a city is doing these operations to ensure active stakeholder and community participation. In an area like Clairwood an operation needs to take at least a minimum of two days. The area is characterized by multiple businesses that require an intensive inspection and the ensuring of bylaws compliance,” she said.
Senior manager of the SDB ABM office, Eurakha Singh stated these operations are a directive from their COO as instituted by eThekwini’s mayor. “Our office’s role is to facilitate and fast track service delivery in all our areas. These operations that take place with various line departments throughout Ethekwini is to ensure all comply to the by-laws. We aim to make a difference every day in the lives of our community,” said Singh.