DURBAN - Ethekwini Municipality deputy mayor Fawzia Peer believes that the arrival of multimillion-rand Casspirs will strengthen the city’s fight against land invasions and protests.
Peer was speaking to the media after the delivery of three Casspirs at metro police headquarters yesterday.
Three of the four armoured vehicles arrived just after midday and will park at the Durban Magistrate’s Court parking lot in the interim.
The fourth is set to arrive before the end of the week.
“We are elated at their arrival. We have waited a long time for them to be delivered,” she said.
Peer said with the increase in land invasions and protests in Durban, there was a need to safeguard police officers who were often pelted with stones and even shot at.
“Just yesterday, our officers were attacked when they went to curb protests in Chiltern and Palmiet. The safety of our officers is of paramount importance to us. These vehicles are also to safeguard the community. Residents must not think these vehicles are here to attack them,” she said.
Peer said the arrival of the Casspirs was not related to the coming elections.
The Casspirs were manufactured at a plant in Johannesburg and took about nine months to construct.
Denel SOC’s Nitesh Arjoon, who delivered the vehicles, said they acquired the armoured steel from Sweden. Arjoon said Denel has been building and supplying similar vehicles to the UN for peacekeeping efforts in parts of Africa.
He said Denel had to modify the Casspirs to suit Durban.
Metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Parboo Sewpersad said it had already identified a team of drivers who would undergo a 10-day driving course.
He said the vehicles would also need to be licensed.
When news broke last year that the city would procure four Casspirs at a cost of R20million, opposition parties and civil society slammed the move as wasteful expenditure.