Durban - The attacks and vandalism of city assets has prompted the eThekwini Municipality to host a crime summit next month to look at ways of containing the incidents.
The summit is set to include representatives of the police, local community policing forums and other community structures as the city attempts to mobilise communities to stand with it to protect public assets.
Addressing the Executive Committee (Exco) members on Tuesday, eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda expressed worry at the ongoing theft and vandalism of municipal properties that include pump stations, libraries and city clinics.
He cited a recent initiative with Minister of Police Bheki Cele, where the city convened a series of crime imbizos in the townships of Inanda, uMlazi and Clermont to engage communities and all relevant stakeholders on the role they should play in the fight against what is seen as an onslaught against the city by criminals.
“Following the engagements with residents in these crime hot spots, we are still on course to host the crime summit in November where various partners will converge seeking lasting solutions to this problem. For us, it is crucial to empower communities so that we build better community policing structures,” the mayor told Exco members.
He expressed the city leadership’s concern that in some instances the items that were stolen from public assets also found their way into the communities of eThekwini.
“We need to change the mindsets of our people, so that they see that the city’s infrastructure is in fact theirs and that if criminals vandalise it, this has an impact on communities themselves,” Kaunda said.
The mayor stressed that while they looked to the police for assistance, it had become apparent that more manpower was needed to fight crime in and around the city.
“We have constantly said police alone cannot address the issue of crime. We must strengthen collaboration between the police and community members.
“However, if communities have no confidence in the police and there is a trust deficit, law-enforcement agencies will not be able to arrest the criminals,” said Kaunda, stressing the importance of establishing active community structures to ensure that criminals did not have space in which to operate.
According to the mayor, holding the summit was part of the city’s commitment to create a safe and peaceful environment for citizens.
City manager Musa Mbhele concurred that the city’s infrastructure was under attack from suspected gangs.
“There was a pump station which was stripped by criminals who took the metal to possibly sell it to scrap metal dealers.”
Exco members lamented the spate of vandalism incidents but questioned the efficiency of security officers deployed in the city’s properties.
DA exco member Andre Beegte suggested that some of the security personnel were napping and this made it easy for criminals to do as they pleased on public properties. The date of the summit is yet to be determined.