Johannesburg - On Sunday, MMC for public safety Dr Mgcini Tshwaku unveiled CCTV cameras, a street patrollers programme in Finetown and Ennerdale ward 7 region G areas.
He said these programmes form part of the city’s response to fighting crime and lawlessness in the communities of Finetown and Ennerdale. He added that the cameras had been installed strategically in crime hotspots to assist SAPS and JMPD with identifying perpetrators of crime.
“The use of CCTV cameras and the patrollers is one of our strategies, also known as smart policing. The CCTV footage will be linked to the patrollers on the ground through an app that can be downloaded on any smartphone device and to the Integrated Intelligence Operations Centre (IIOC) Command Centre,” he said.
On Monday, Tshwaku addressed the community of Westbury, who had delivered a memorandum of demand for jobs and social inclusion in programmes within the Department of Public Safety.
He committed to ensuring that the coloured community in the area and other areas would be prioritised for job opportunities, as they, too, deserved to be treated as equals in the new democratic dispensation.
Two weeks ago, the community marched to Helen Joseph Hospital, Rahima Moosa Hospital, and JMPD offices as well as to the police station in protest to the amendment of the amendments to the Employment Equity Act, saying this bill discriminates against the employment of coloured people.
“When I was in Ennerdale during the campaigns, I gave a good characterisation in terms of that, as EFF, we fight for the coloureds as well. We were shocked that a coloured woman who has served the city for over 30 years was not shortlisted because of the employment targets.
“It was very unfair. We, as the department, want to ensure that the demographics of the department reflect the demographics of South Africa. So we are working on what is called a deviation.
“We are going to deviate to ensure that we employ coloured, Indians and white people even with the traffic wardens and patrollers programmes we are going ensure that they are representative of all the races,” he said.
The MMC said there would be a bigger roll out of similar programs in coloured communities to ensue that they do not feel excluded from opportunities.
“There will be a bigger rollout to all seven regions of Johannesburg in the next coming months,” he said.
The Star