Durban - Citizens in eThekwini disobeying by-laws will no longer be getting off the hook lightly, with the metro police and SAPS settling a stalemate that has seen offenders breaking the law without consequences.
This was the breakthrough announced by Durban metro police deputy head, Steve Middleton, while addressing a business summit in the city on Wednesday.
“I received a call last night from an SAPS general saying that all 68 nuisance by-laws are now on the CAS (Crime Administration System) system,” he said.
Metro police”can now formally take infringements to SAPS and they can be treated similarly to crime offences. Up until on Wednesday they never had them on the system.”
Business leaders welcomed the news but questioned whether the city police had the manpower to enforce the by-laws.
In December The Mercury reported how metro police were struggling to enforce by-laws, with the SAPS seemingly reluctant to co-operate with their counterparts.
At the time, KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Jay Naicker denied that the SAPS were unhelpful, saying they assisted when they were not dealing with “serious crime”.
Middleton said over the past five months, the metro police had written more than 120 000 by-law notices:”summonses”.
More than 10 000 people had been “rounded up” over the same period.
Addressing the city’s community and emergency services committee last month, Middleton told councillors that the SAPS “have not updated their systems as yet to cater for the by-law”, despite an agreement to do so.
Another challenge faced by metro cops, he told the committee, was the National Prosecuting Authority’s leniency towards offenders.
He said this “heavily demoralises” officers.
“You may not see the change, but we are enforcing the by-laws.
“Just keep in mind please - metro police have three mandated functions: traffic management, by-law enforcement and crime prevention,” Middleton said on Wednesday.
The metro police had of late been inundated with service delivery protests, threats from a “business forum” demanding city contracts, and had to deal with land invasions, authorised marches and international and local events.
The SAPS had not confirmed the development at the time of publication.
Mike Jackson, Durban Chamber of Commerce deputy president, was ecstatic at the news but questioned whether if the metro police had enough resources to do the job.
“Have the metro police (staff) numbers gone up at all since the introduction of this enforcement?
“We believe that maybe that it is an area that needs attention. It requires a lot of manpower and effort.
“We question whether the city has thrown enough resources at this problem,” he said.
The CBD and the beachfront were in a filthy state and this needed to be reversed.
“We feel that... there shouldn’t be too much hesitation in the implementation of these by-laws, “he said.
“We believe we have judges, magistrates and people who can balance the scales of justice.
“The metro police and the SAPS should enforce, the courts should be the deciding people on what the penalties should be.”
City by-laws needed to be enforced if business in Durban was to flourish and “regenerate the city and stimulate economic growth”, Jackson said.
Bylaw infringements and fines
Public place infringements and the fines they carry:
Fighting – R1 500
Urinating – R500
Bathing – R500
Washing clothes – R500
Spitting – R200
Consuming liquor or being in a state of intoxication – R2 500
Begging – R200
Loitering – R2 500
Allowing any tree or growth on premises to interfere with communal services – R1500
Climbing a tree growing in a public place – R1 000
Drying, spreading or hanging washing on a balcony or veranda in such a way that it is visible from a public road – R500
Blowing, or causing to be blown, the hooter of a motor vehicle in a public place which creates a nuisance – R1 500
Skating on roller-skates or a skateboard or similar device – R250
Appearing in the nude or exposing one’s genitalia in a public space – R3 000.