City set to beef up policing on 30 main roads

Members of a City of Tshwane cleaning team in action in Atteridgeville. Supplied

Members of a City of Tshwane cleaning team in action in Atteridgeville. Supplied

Published Feb 28, 2024

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The City of Tshwane is planning to intensify policing on 30 critical roads in a bid to keep safe residents travelling on them daily to various workplaces from their respective homes.

The initiative was in line with the city’s urban management plan, which will see the municipality deploying more metro police officers to maintain law and order on the roads.

Mayor Cilliers Brink outlined the plan in his regular newsletter to residents, saying the targeted critical routes stretched from Mabopane and Soshanguve to Pretoria North and the inner city, as well as from Atteridgeville, Pretoria East and Mamelodi to Centurion.

“This focus does not mean that other routes will not be attended, but focusing on the critical routes is a way of maximising impact, productivity and performance. Control of critical routes is also a key to effective municipal policing,” he said.

He said the city would gradually beef up the presence of the Tshwane Metro Police Department on the routes.

“We have a focused urban management plan that will prioritise main routes, namely the 30 critical roads that convey residents from home to work and that represent a meeting point for people from different areas.”

The other facet of the urban management plan prioritised the cleaning of cemeteries in Atteridgeville and Pretoria East.

“This past week, myself and other members of the mayoral committee have been on the ground supporting our urban management teams as we work to improve basic service delivery across Tshwane,” Brink said.

He said the urban management teams were in Atteridgeville and Pretoria East delivering core and visible services such as cutting grass, patching potholes, marking roads, fixing street lights and clearing illegal dumping sites.

“This work forms part of our urban management plan, which seeks to accelerate services on key major routes within Tshwane, including public spaces such as parks, key buildings and cemeteries. Of particular importance is that we noted residents’ concerns about cemeteries and devised a plan to address these issues.”

In Atteridgeville, he said, the team prioritised the maintenance and dignified upkeep of the cemetery, including patching potholes and cutting grass.

“The urban management work in Atteridgeville coincided with the Tswelopele clean-up operation in Moroe Street where the Tswelopele teams collected waste and cleaned illegal dumping sites with the support of various stakeholders,” he said.

In Pretoria East, teams rolled up their sleeves to cut grass at Silverton cemetery and conducted maintenance work along the busy Simon Vermooten Road. It also included repairing street lights and marking roads.

Brink said: “We will continue to drive our urban management plan to reach critical areas across Tshwane.”

Pretoria News

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