Durban - When police busted four men during a R1 million drug raid in Sydenham Heights last year, alarm bells should have went off for police to act swiftly on the drug trade in the suburb. This is the belief of the Democratic Alliance’s Shadow Minister of Police, Dianne Kohler Barnard.
She was responding to a request for comment following running gun battles between members of a drug cartel and police in Sydenham Heights, Durban.
For the last two weeks, families living in the area have had to duck for cover as gun shots could be heard between the three blocks of flats.
Videos of the incidents have since been circulating on social media. On Tuesday, police came under fire after responding to an alert of a shooting.
Kohler Barnard said until such time as police management re-establishes a national Narcotics Bureau linked to Interpol, and which is substantially better resourced than the drug bosses and their global counterparts, this situation will escalate until no-one will be safe walking the streets of Sydenham, Wentworth or indeed any other drug hot-spot in the country.
“What our SAPS in KwaZulu-Natal have ignored is evolution of transnational organised crime over the past 20 years, as it has evolved from the sole preserve of specialist crime organisations, to funding mechanisms for armed groups and corrupt politicians globally,” she said.
Kohler Barnard said the heroin bust of a year ago should have sent warning flares into the sky for the police.
“Instead we are seeing today how rival drug mafia gangs have turned the streets of Sydenham into a war zone,” she said.
Kohler Barnard said the question to ask, would be how is heroin arriving in Durban?
“The answer, via Pakistan, and then Mozambique – simply driven across our borders where there are no scanners or sniffer-dogs. South Africa is a prime target for the heroin manufacturers, and weak governance has allowed this curse to insert itself into the very fabric of our society. These TransNational organised crime syndicates ignore borders, are incredibly well funded, and are able to out-shoot, drive and fly any member of our police,” she said.
Last year, Kohler Barnard said there were 934 arrests for drug-related crimes in Sydenham.
On Monday, a man had to act as a human shield for his wife and two young children.
Speaking to The Mercury, he said he had to carry his two children and hold his wife close to him as they arrived home after spending the day with family.
“I have lived in Sydenham Heights for most of my life. It has never been like this. I do not want my children growing up in this environment,” he said.