eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said at the city’s council meeting on Thursday that the municipality is planning to recruit more law enforcement officers to tackle the escalating incidents of crime in the city.

He pointed out a growing trend of mass killings, particularly in the outer west areas.

Currently, the municipality has 200 Metro Police trainees who are at college, with the recruitment of an additional 200 members being finalised. As from 2024, 400 new police officers will be recruited each year.

“We are intending to recruit a target of 5 000 law enforcement officers here as part of our efforts to increase police visibility on our streets. People are mugged and killed in broad daylight in places where they are supposed to feel safe,” Kaunda said.

The municipality is also implementing the resolutions from the crime and social cohesion summit, which was held in December, and which proposed the deployment of multi-disciplinary teams to deal with the killing of community leaders and mass murders, as well as the installation of CCTV in the CBD and in rural and township communities, particularly in areas that have been identified as crime hotspots.

Dedicated teams will deal with buildings, drugs, and illegal liquor outlets and the business sector will be engaged with to establish satellite police stations in crime hotspots.

The municipality took a resolution at its last council meeting to donate land to the South African Police Serice to build a fully-fledged police station in Marianhill. This, according to Kaunda, will improve policing in areas such as Tshelimnyama, Mpola, Dassenhoek, KwaSanti and KlaarWater.

Kaunda added that government needs assistance from stakeholders to fight crime.

“Honourable Speaker, one cannot overemphasise the importance of unity of purpose if we are to achieve the plans that are set out in this draft budget. The people of eThekwini have told us in no uncertain terms that we must put our political differences aside and work together to improve their lives,” he said.

The mayor further acknowledged the progress made in keeping the city clean and waste-free.

“Honourable Councillors, our efforts to clean the city are beginning to yield positive results after we have made reforms in the Cleansing and Solid Waste Unit. However, we want to reiterate that cleaning the city is a collective responsibility. Therefore, we urge our residents to cooperate with us by disposing waste in designated areas. We are pleased that the private sector and public entities are putting their shoulder into the wheel to keep our city clean,” he said.