Mtuba pavement parties out of control

LAW abiding residents of Mtubatuba are increasingly concerned about their safety and are fed up with law enforcement apparently not to taking such concerns seriously.

Impromptu pavement parties by non-residents are fast becoming the norm in residential areas.

While it has been reported in the past, the situation has been growing steadily worse.

But authorities appear less interested in bringing the public drinking and deafening music to an end, and following reports of intimidation, residents are beginning to fear for their safety.

Not limited to weekends, at times these pavement parties start on a weekday morning and carry on all day. Some residents, who wish to remain anonymous, have experienced intimidation from ‘party-goers’ drinking on the residents’ verges. Moreover, residents have witnessed schoolgirls being harassed and chased down the road by drunken men.

During every pavement party, residents notify SAPS and request the police to disperse the parties, but to no avail.

Residents say on the occasions when police vehicles arrive on the scene, police officers don’t even get out of their vehicles and certainly don’t put a stop to the parties, nor do they conduct breathalyser tests party-goers.

On other occasions, it is claimed police officers fail to turn up, leaving residents to deal with the drunken louts shouting, breaking bottles, littering the area with beer cans and playing raucous music.

Frequently, residents say, when a party is reported to the police, one of the party-goers receives a telephone call. Some party-goers then disperse, but more return a while later.

Free-for-all

If this blatant disregard for the town’s by-laws wasn’t enough, a local councillor has been seen joining in, as have a local school teacher and Mtubatuba Fire Rescue officers in their government issued vehicle. Yet none are brought to book.

In 2012, a group of youngsters was arrested for carrying one unopened bottle of alcohol each in a brown bag. Police officers reportedly rounded them up, took them to Mtubatuba Police Station and slapped them each with a R100 admission of guilt fine.

Residents want to know why these adults, who are clearly breaking the town’s by-laws, aren’t given the same treatment.

Although the Mtubatuba Municipality cordoned off the notorious Mtuba Park in the run-up to this year’s general elections, this has made no difference as the parties have simply moved from park to pavement.

‘What can ordinary residents do when the authorities don’t seem interested in protecting us and upholding the law?’, said one irate resident.