The City of Johannesburg has revealed it was considering deploying additional police resources to focus on serious crimes in areas such as Hillbrow, which has become a no-go area due to the high criminal activities.
Last week, a man was recorded shooting an e-hailing driver to death during an armed robbery in Berea.
A 26-year-old suspect was allegedly linked to the murder and was arrested by the police on Thursday at Jabulani Hostel in Soweto.
Spokesperson for Public Safety Rhulani Mgwambane said that as part of addressing criminal activities in the City of Johannesburg, more human resources were needed.
“Hillbrow has indeed been shaped by the presence of both legal and illegal foreign nationals, contributing to its complex social dynamics. Historically, Hillbrow has served as a hub for migrants and immigrants, offering economic opportunities and a relatively transient lifestyle. While this diversity has contributed to the area's vibrant culture, it also presents challenges for law enforcement and urban planning.
“To address these concerns, measures will include encouraging community-led projects that promote social cohesion, cultural exchange, and economic empowerment. Developing strategies that balance economic growth with social welfare, addressing issues like overcrowding, sanitation, and public health.”
He argued that focusing on high-crime areas and collaborating with community leaders to identify and address underlying causes of crime and create job programs that support local businesses to reduce poverty and inequality.
“It's essential to recognize that Hillbrow's challenges are deeply rooted in its history, socio-economic factors, and urbanization processes,” he said.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili said the Hillbrow police station was one of the top police stations due to its population and proximity, adding that the influx of illegal immigrants had posed a challenge for the station.
“It is one of the province’s Top 40 high-contact stations and that is why it enjoys constant interventions from the district as well as the provincial level. Since the beginning of this financial year (April 1, 2024) there have been over 20 districts and as well as provincial Operation Shanela conducted at this policing precinct which has resulted in many arrests including 591 illegal immigrants, 434 suspects for liquor-related offences as this area also has a lot of liquor outlets.
“Operation Shanela is a crime prevention and combating operation that aims to assist the station in reducing crime as well as stamping the authority of the state. Another intervention by the provincial office is the stakeholder and community leaders engagement conducted together with the Community Policing Forum at the Top 40 high contact crime police stations including Hillbrow,” said Muridili.
She also stated that in the first quarter of the financial year, between April - June, the station managed to reduce their overall crimes by 6% and that this showed that the interventions by the district and province had a positive impact.
However, Mary De Haas, Research and advocate for Social Justice, stressed that high crime levels started with the lack of Crime Intelligence in preventing some of the criminal activities in the country.
She called for an audit of the country’s guns to determine which were or were not accounted for.
“It is seriously dysfunctional, money for informers dried up, and years of using it for political purposes and not to identify and stop criminals before they strike, which means crime intelligence should be picking up where they are getting the guns from.
“Every year hundreds of guns go missing from the police and the security industry is also a threat as it is badly regulated and includes companies operating being registered with Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority. We urgently need an audit of guns and gun shops and ammunition, especially of automatic and semi-automatic guns,” said de Haas.
Weighing on the influx of foreign nationals in Hillbrow, she said that it did not imply that only foreign nationals were responsible for all the crimes.
“Criminality among South Africans is widespread, think of the construction mafia and the taxi industry hitmen. This is not to say you may not have criminals among foreign nationals but you can’t blame them for crime as Hillbrow has long been a dangerous part of Jo’burg and often the identifiable criminals are working for syndicates that are multi-racial in some cases such as drugs, and the drug dealing goes back to the apartheid days when the apartheid police were spreading matrix, as part of the chemical warfare drug in cities including Durban and Cape Flats.
De Haas said out-rooting fraud in admission for police training, professionalizing and expanding crime intelligence, and restoring discipline in policing would help tighten the police.
Sunday Independent