The Metro Police has intensified its crime prevention clean-up campaign in a quest to rid the City
of drug dens and reduce crime.

COMMITTED to ensuring the improvement of the City, the Metro Police has been rolling out a crime prevention cleanup campaign. The multi-stakeholder initiative has been highly successful, said project leader Superintendent Anand Maharaj. He said the Mother of All Clean-ups Campaign launched by eThekwini Mayor Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda in January rejuvenated their efforts. “We initially started this programme 10 years ago with a handful of stakeholders. 

As time progressed the campaign gradually lost momentum. With the alarming spike in criminal activities, Mayor Kaunda called on Metro Police to leave no stone unturned to ensure we reduce crime. That was the nudge we needed to restart the initiative,” Maharaj said. Metro Police Spokesperson Colonel Boysie Zungu said the campaign is evidence of their effort to bring criminals to book and to ensure the wellbeing of residents. “We applaud Superintendent Anand Maharaj, his team and stakeholders for their work to combat crime in the city centre,” said Zungu. 

He said because of these efforts, they have seen a decline in drug dens and the illegal occupation of railway lines by drug addicts. “Superintendent Anand’s team has reported a decline in illegal occupation of railway lines by drug users. From about 1 000 occupants there are only about 150 now. This added pressure has started to have an impact as the illegal occupants were suspected to play a major role in crime.” The Metro Police thanked the following stakeholders for their role in the clean-up campaign including the South African Police Services, Urban Improvement Precinct, Safer Cities, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and  iTrump.