Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has ramped up its deployment of law enforcement officers in the Bellville CBD to tackle crime and enforce by-laws effectively.
A boost of 18 officers has been allocated to Bellville CBD, with an additional 32 officers split between Mitchells Plain Town Centre and Wynberg CBD.
Accompanied by safety and security Mayco member JP Smith, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis recently participated in an integrated policing operation in the area.
The operation along Durban Road aimed to ensure compliance with general and trading by-laws by local residents.
Hill-Lewis said the operation was to mark the first deployment of their special law enforcement in the Bellville CBD.
“You can’t have enough officers everywhere, so you need to focus on where the big issues are.
“There are a lot of crime issues in the CBDs, lots of petty crimes, cellphone, chain, bag snatching and robbery,” he said.
Hill-Lewis said the deployments are also focused to make people feel safe when travelling in and out of the CBDs.
During the walkabout, the mayor warned shop owners regarding goods that were illegally stored, as officers will enforce the by-laws.
Along Durban Road, hawkers selling bags of chips and other food goods were obstructing the side walk.
The mayor’s presence sparked varied reactions from locals, including supportive gestures and concerns voiced about broader safety issues.
While some paused to snap pictures of him, another bystander commented as mayor Hill-Lewis walked past a fruit and vegetable store: “Forget about the shops; focus on the gangsters.”
Meanwhile, law enforcement operations for the Bellville CBD in June saw 39 arrests including 20 drug-related arrests, and 403 searches of vehicles and persons.
A total of 351 fines were issued for parking offences and 57 fines issued for transgressing informal trading and hawking by-laws.
The City’s effective deployment of 100 law enforcement personnel to Cape Town’s main CBD since July 2022 saw over 1 800 arrests made in the 2023/24 fiscal year, 30% of which were drug-related.
Smith said about 20 to 30 officers in the Bellville CBD will focus daily on serious crime and general by-laws.
“Our dedicated resources are developing detailed knowledge of the local challenges in each CBD, which will up the overall quality and efficiency of our policing operations,” Smith said.
“For communities, it is an opportunity to establish relationships, and trust, with the uniformed services working in their area for the benefit of all.”
byron.lukas@inl.co.za
Cape Argus