Mayor Mashaba leads raid of drug dens and brothels

09 February 2017

 

My child is merely six years old and yet he already knows about drugs that are being peddled around here!” 

This is how angry Rosettenville resident Barbara Roberts last night summed up the extent to which drugs have consumed her community.

 

Roberts was one of several Rosettenville, Region F, residents who welcomed a raid of drug dens, brothels and illegally occupied houses conducted by a task force consisting of members of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) and the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The joint operation, led by Johannesburg Mayor Cllr Herman Mashaba, followed a spate of violent incidents at the weekend during which properties belonging to alleged drug dealers and other criminal elements were torched by angry community members, who demanded that they be driven out of the area.

Mayor Mashaba last night said that such incidents were not acceptable.

“They will not do us justice. We have to prevent them because we do not want to have a lawless city. This is why we have mobilised all the law enforcement agencies to go into the hotspots with us and send a strong signal to criminals terrorising our people,” Cllr Mashaba said.

“It is not only the residents of Rosettenville who are having sleepless nights about these criminal elements. This is something that many residents across the City endure. So our task force is going to ensure that residents of our city are protected.”

Among people who were arrested during the night raid was a Zimbabwean who was found with an unlicensed firearm. He was taken into custody for further investigations. A brothel run by illegal immigrants was also discovered by members of the joint task force.

“We will have to get the Department of Home Affairs on board to help us deal with this matter. None of these people have legal documents for their stay here,” Mashaba said.

Resident Maxine Moon said some of the houses in the area had been hijacked by criminal elements. Roberts said children were being exposed to all illegal activities taking place in the neighbourhood.

“There is not much we can do because we are not getting much help from the police,” Roberts lamented. “It is only our Community Policing Forum that responds immediately but it also does not have much power.”