Durban - A watchdog committee has been formed to overturn crime, oversee service delivery and deal with issues plaguing Chatsworth.
The Chatsworth Strategic High Intervention and Engagement for Local Development, or Shield as its known, was formally launched earlier this month.
“When MEC Ravi Pillay held a community meeting after the tragic death of Sadia Sukhraj, he suggested a committee be formed.
Fifteen members of the public got together to be apart of this committee which will work together with police and other departments to tackle crime and other issues in the area,” said the organisation’s acting chairperson, Pooh Govender.
“We have already sent a memorandum to Police Minister Bheki Cele and we plan to meet with him and discuss the role we wish to play and see what kind of assistance he will offer.”
With the aim of restoring Chatsworth to its “glory days”, the team of volunteers said they will begin engaging with police officials, members of the community, ward councillors, various departments and other role-players in the area.
“We will introduce ourselves to all the role-players and start addressing issues that need to be addressed,” said Shield member Pastor Selvan Govender.
“Of course, our main concern or the biggest issue we want to tackle first is crime in Chatsworth.
"We have already met the new station commander, Brigadier Kevin James, and he is very hands-on when it comes to decreasing crime in the area.
“Just recently he came out with his team and he also arranged for 50 new police officers to join Chatsworth. We have already seen visible policing in all areas so we are excited to have him and we know he will work together with us,” said Govender.
With issues like inadequate lighting, speed humps, drug dealers and land invasion, the group of 15 members feel they are ready for the task.
“One of their first tasks was assisting in this past weekend’s march against crime.
“The message is clear, eliminate crime,” said Govender. “We want to see the residents of Chatsworth join us and stand up for their area like they did a few weeks ago.”
The group, which also has a leader of the Bottlebrush informal settlement, Lucky Zulu, as a member, said they plan to also work together to build social cohesion.
“For years people looked at Bottlebrush as though it is an eyesore. But no one really understands that in the area, even our people are plagued with crime,” said Zulu.
“We want to live together and live in harmony. With this team in place, we can track the people in this settlement, we can find ways to prevent others coming in and building and we can try to do away with land invasion.”
Shield member Julian Moodley said they were not going to replace CPFs, but to ensure everyone is working together for a better Chatsworth.
“We will be working behind the scenes, questioning why promises that were made years ago have not yet been fulfilled. We will question ward councillors who do not hear the call of their community,” said Moodley.
“We need to hold people to account. This is an apolitical group, meaning we do not want any parties to latch onto this committee. We are for the people and we were elected by the people so our main aim is to serve the people.”
POST