National Assembly House Chairman of Committees, Cedric Frolick, gave Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor Gary van Niekerk’s anti-crime ten-point plan his nod of approval.

"One of the benefits of being a member of parliament is the ability to interact directly with the respective ministers. I support your plan and will hand it over to the relevant stakeholders.

"However, you require stability and a council focused on servicing the community instead of power struggles if you want to be successful in addressing the crime in the city. Unless we have a common purpose, we will not be able to make a difference.

"The municipality must play its role in the ecosystem. The law enforcement officers cannot fight gangsterism in the dark. It is a matter of literally sending people to be killed.

"I am therefore happy to hear from the Mayor that a difference can be seen in some of the hotspot areas. The high mast lighting must be fixed to make these areas safer to police.

"With the increasing number of murders, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality definitely needs immediate intervention and everyone must play a role to make it work,” MP Frolick said.

Executive Mayor Gary van Niekerk shared the plan during an open meeting at the Gqeberha City Hall in the company of MP Cedric Frolick and various role players in the safety and security environment.

He encouraged a collective effort from all sectors of society to make it work.

"The Rapid Response on Crime (RROC) initiative, a collaboration by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Safety and Security Directorate, the South African Police Services, private security, community policing forums, civil society and other stakeholders is such a case in point.

"We established it two months ago and are currently working on getting it to a level of operational functionality that will increase our safety and security footprint across all sixty municipal wards,” Mayor Van Niekerk said.

Ten-point plan

1.    Visible policing focused on identified crime hotspots.

2.    South African Police Services Tactical Response Teams must be deployed in the Northern Areas, Kariega and the townships.

3.    An integrated Joint Operations Centre (JOC), manned by law enforcement agencies, private security, community policing forums and neighbourhood watches will be established in South End from next week.

4.    CCTV video surveillance systems will be installed in hotspot areas.

5.    Identification of repeat offenders with a renewed focus on cold cases and the issuing of warrants of arrest.

6.    A database of drug dens in every policing precinct must be established, followed by actions of the Special Investigations Unit, Asset Forfeiture Unit and the South African Revenue Services, amongst others.

7.    The Organised Crime Unit must identify criminal high-flyers and act by arresting and prosecuting them.

8.    The establishment of specialized detectives to specifically focus on gang violence, prosecutors and courts.

9.    The establishment of a reward system aimed at infiltrate criminal organizations by offering financial rewards to participants.

10.                  Persistent compliance operations to stop the flow of unlicensed firearms.

On Saturday, law enforcement agencies and civil society organisations under the banner of the ONE PEOPLE, ONE VISION: HEALING OUR BAY initiative had a successful awareness campaign in Arcadia, one of the gang hotspot areas.

Ends