Warwick Bruce Chapman

NOTE: This statement is here because I played a role in creating it while eThekwini Campaign Manager in the 2011 Local Government Elections.

Statement by
Cllr Ronnie Veeran
DA eThekwini Mayoral Candidate

Breaking the Chain: The DA’s Plan to Fight Drugs in eThekwini

22 April 2011

Release: immediate

Drugs and drug addiction are having a devastating effect on the eThekwini community. Residents of Chatsworth, Phoenix and other suburbs such as Claremont, Umlazi and KwaMashu have been caught in the stranglehold of notorious drugs such as sugars and whoonga.

Widespread addiction to these drugs has contributed to the tearing of our social fabric, broken families and a high incidence of crime and criminality. The local community bears the burden as dealers battle for turf and addicts look for every opportunity to fund their habits. In some suburbs of the city addicts have even resorted to preying on HIV patients to steal their ARV’s for the production of whoonga.

In Chatsworth the Metro police were making exceptional breakthroughs in the fight against drugs and drug dealers and yet the unit’s special drug team was effectively disbanded when its 5 members were moved to the new Umlazi station, leaving the drug lords to operate with impunity. This is yet another indictment of how the effectiveness of our Metro Police is compromised by the poor management which has left the force with a 49% vacancy rate and thus only half the personnel it needs.

The DA-led city of Cape Town has demonstrated that the Metro Police, which are funded by the ratepayers of the metro, can be an enormously effective force in combating the sale and distribution of drugs. Since taking power in the city the DA created a specialized Metro Police unit to tackle the drugs scourge.

As a result, arrests for drug-related crimes soared from 180 in the 2005/6 financial year to a massive 955 in 2009/10 financial year. This has also contributed to the reduction of the overall crime statistics as drug-related offences are often linked to more serious offences such as murder, assault, theft and armed robbery.

If the DA was to take over the eThekwini municipality, we would immediately set about creating a specialized Metro Police unit to tackle this problem head-on. This unit will consist of highly trained and equipped officers and an efficient intelligence gathering arm.

This unit would partner with the SAPS, private security companies and community policing fora to identify where drugs are being sold, how they are entering the city and the drug lords responsible for selling them. Partnerships will also be sought with the prosecuting authority to ensure that arrests, evidence gathering and subsequent prosecutions result in watertight convictions.

It is now time for decisive action to be taken in eThekwini to combat the scourge. For far too long drug lords and pushers have been able to get away with their crimes whilst communities suffer. We must get our metro officers out on the beat and taking the fight to the drug lords on our streets.

NOTE: This statement is here because I played a role in creating it while eThekwini Campaign Manager in the 2011 Local Government Elections.

Statement by
Cllr Ronnie Veeran
DA eThekwini Mayoral Candidate

21 April 2011

Release: immediate

The Democratic Alliance recognises the need for safe and clean communities where people can live and work free from fear and danger. We recognise that the community itself has a central role to play in the fight against crime and that a partnership between South African Police Service, private security and the community and the municipality is required to reduce crime in eThekwini.

The Democratic Alliance has a plan to reduce the space in our communities which allows criminals to operate.

A DA government in eThekwini would ensure that:

- in partnership with SAPS, functioning Community Policing Fora will be established in every policing area in the Metro and will engage in real crime prevention activities;
- we will establish a small, effective Community Safety unit to initiate and support the establishment of street and neighbourhood watches to work with CPFs based on best practices learned from around the Metro;
- we will support and encourage reasonable partnerships between communities and private security to secure neighbourhoods and streets;
- Metro Police specialised units will be re-established and revitalised to combat specific crime types and Metro Police will be required to participate in all CPF activities in their area;
- we will increase communication and collaboration between CPF leadership, SAPS station commanders and Metro Police commanders;
- all councillors will be required to involve themselves in CPF and neighbourhood watch activities.

The primary role of crime prevention and investigating crimes falls with the SAPS who are a Provincial and National run competency. Our Metro Police service do play a role in crime fighting, and must play a greater role going forward. Some communities run neighbourhood watches and vibrant Community Policing forums but many others do not.

Any criminal who enters a neighbourhood with an intention to commit a crime is unable to do so without being seen by a member of the community. Improved communication between community members, the SAPS, private security and Metro Police can be the difference between a crime being committed or prevented.

Crime is a complex problem, deeply integrated into our social fabric. We recognise that all three spheres of government need to play a role in combating and preventing crime in our communities. A DA government in eThekwini will ensure that the fight against crime is a top priority.

NOTE: This statement is here because I played a role in creating it while eThekwini Campaign Manager in the 2011 Local Government Elections.

20 April 2011
Release: immediate

The theft of electricity cables within the eThekwini municipal area has reached dramatic proportions, severely hampering the operation of electricity infrastructure in the city. Officials in the eThekwini Electricity Department have revealed to the DA that there are an average of 15 incidents of cable theft per day, resulting in 300 – 400 light poles being blacked out and plunging key areas into darkness.

This growing cable-theft trend threatens the very infrastructure of the City, causing serious damage to electrical substations and necessitating repairs running into millions of rand. Yet the eThekwini municipality has done virtually nothing to combat the problem and has allowed large portions of major freeways and suburban roads to remain unlit, due to a massive and costly backlog of cables needing replacement.

Cable thieves operate with such impunity in eThekwini that replaced cables are stolen again less than 24 hours after being replaced. The resulting theft increases the danger factor by creating crime-friendly, dimly lit areas, while at the same time causing a danger to traffic on busy, dark freeways.

The theft ofcopper cables in Cape Town was a major problem. The Democratic Alliance city administration took decisive action and established the “Copperheads” unit within the Metro Police. This specialised unit was tasked with combating cable theft as well as seeking out scrap dealers and individuals who were buying stolen cables. The unit has been extremely successful in prosecuting those who commit crimes of sabotage against the City of Cape Town. Such is the success of the unit, that the cost to the city to replacecopper cabling has dropped from R20-million pa to just R500 000 pa.

Today I commit the Democratic Alliance to taking the following action steps within three months of taking office:

- We will establish a “Copperheads” unit within the Metro Police. This unit will be staffed and equipped to fight those criminals who target municipal infrastructure and bring them to justice.

- We will motivate for the re-classification of the theft of electricity cables as sabotage to municipal infrastructure. This classification of sabotage carries a far heavier sentence in the courts.

- We will table a bylaw amendment to regulate and scrutinise scrap dealers who are buying stolen municipal infrastructure. Should scrap dealers be found to be in possession of stolen municipal infrastructure their business licence will be revoked.

The DA led city of Cape Town has shown that this scourge can be beaten if the necessary resources are provided and there is the political will to tackle the problems. We believe our plan will decisively overcome the challenges and ensure that the DA keeps the lights on for all the citizens of eThekwini.

Media Enquiries:

Cllr Ronnie Veeran
DA eThekwini Mayoral Candidate
082 371 7698

Mbali Ntuli
Mayoral Spokesperson
072 118 8556

NOTE: This statement is here because I played a role in creating it while eThekwini Campaign Manager in the 2011 Local Government Elections.

Holiday seasons offer our city a prime opportunity to put its best foot forward and show visitors what we have to offer and in so doing, encourage them to keep coming back. The unsightly construction work taking place on the prime promenade, the Golden Mile, a week before the Easter break does exactly the opposite. After a walkabout yesterday to inspect the readiness of the beachfront for the holidays, I was met by incomplete construction work, untrimmed vegetation and dying palm trees and still empty restaurants built before the World Cup. Our beachfront is sorely in need of the proper management and attention to detail which can make it the best holiday location in the country.

The Golden Mile is eThekwini’s best asset for marketing the City. Our sandy beaches, warm ocean temperatures and tropical climate mean that we have the perfect ingredients for a year-round and world-class tourism product. What we don’t have right now is the commitment and co-ordination by the city council to ensure that we leverage these ingredients into a recipe for real success. A successfully managed, safe and polished beachfront will attract increasing numbers of tourists to Durban every year, increasing economic growth and job creation.

The DA-run city of Cape Town enjoys a large market share of the local and international tourist trade precisely because it has developed itself as a tourist centered city committed to offering all visitors a safe, enjoyable and memorable stay. Cape Town has recognized that tourism holds massive potential for employment opportunities and economic development and attracts large amounts of foreign and local revenue into the city helping to stimulate the local economy.

Under a DA led administration we will ensure that maintenance and upgrading of our key tourist assets is regular and planned outside of key holiday periods. Our tourism assets across the city will all be included in a detailed asset register and will be set down for scheduled inspection on a regular basis. This will ensure that any construction will cause the minimum disruption to both tourists and locals alike. The development of sustainable ‘new’ tourism initiatives in other parts of the City will be prioritised. Township, rural and adventure tourism potential in eThekwini presents major growth and job opportunities but require professional development support and ongoing management of the greater tourism environment by the City.

The DA-run city of Cape Town has shown that a focused and organized commitment to developing tourism assets yields big dividends as more visitors flock to the city. There is no reason why we cannot do the same here in eThekwini. I will commit our DA administration to delivering on the potential which our beautiful city offers and place us at the apex of tourism destinations where we rightfully belong.

NOTE: This statement is here because I played a role in creating it while eThekwini Campaign Manager in the 2011 Local Government Elections.

The DA: You deserve clean, safe communities you can be proud to live in

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

Democratic Alliance eThekwini Mayoral candidate, Ronnie Veeran and his team descended on Lenham in Phoenix today to kick off the DA’s Civic Pride Campaign.

In the face of the failure of the eThekweni Municipality to properly maintain the area, the DA Mayoral Candidate lead a team of supporters and community members in a cleanup of the Rucklen Place flats.

Residents have complained for many months about council’s inability to maintain the public open spaces in the area. Grass verges have not been cut for many months, refuse and rubble is dumped indiscriminately and broken glass makes it dangerous for children and pedestrians.

Cllr Veeran lead a team which cleaned up the area around Rucklen Place, cutting and raking grass verges, collecting litter and picking up broken glass.

The DA believes that municipal maintenance of our built and green environment must be properly managed in order to ensure a clean and safe space for people to live and work. Untidy and dirty public spaces also make criminals feel welcome in our communities. We deserve clean, well maintained spaces where criminals feel uncomfortable operating,and where children and pedestrians feel safe to play and move in their communities.

In the City of Cape Town, the DA has focused on creating safer communities by focussing on good planning, improved maintenance and the delivery of new infrastructure. Khayelitsha is South Africa’s third largest township and was notoriously poorly planned and devoid of community infrastructure. The City of Cape Town under DA governance has changed both the urban landscape and the lives of ordinary people in Khayelitsha.

Focusing on four ‘safe nodes’ in the community, neatly paved walkways, regularly spaced streetlamps, public squares and multi-functional modern public buildings have replaced informal sprawl. The maintenance of these and other public spaces is well managed and creates a cleaner, safer environment than existed before.

The residents of Phoenix and every other community in South Africa deserve safe, clean communities. A DA government in eThekwini would ensure that capable officials would drive a programme of cleaning, maintenance and rolling out new infrstructure to make our communities safer and cleaner to live in.