The Executive Mayor thanks officials for hard work
At a media briefing in Centurion on 11 January 2016, the Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, thanked City of Tshwane officials and especially the Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD) for their hard work during the festive season.
Msimanga expressed appreciation for their sacrificing family time to keep Tshwane safe and running to the best it can be.
The TMPD in partnership with all relevant stakeholders introduced the Road Safety Council Forum in February 2014 in order to provide guidelines to mainstream and coordinate road safety matters with regard to all operations executed in Tshwane. The Road Safety Council Forum positions road safety within a broader social, economic, spatial and structural framework by means of integrated and multi-agency interventions.
The Road Safety Council in partnership with other stakeholders serve as a tool to reduce crime and road fatalities to the minimum and to ensure that all people living in Tshwane are safe and secure through:
- Ensuring law and order in and around Tshwane by enforcing all municipal by-laws;
- Limiting the number of road accidents to the minimum and at least ensure a decrease in the number of accidents and specifically fatal and serious accidents compared with the same period the previous year;
- Limiting the number of crimes committed to the minimum and to ensure at least a decrease in the reported cases compared with the same period the previous year;
- Monitoring public amenities, outdoor advertisement, slaughtering of animals and places of entertainment, clubs, shebeens and taverns to forestall the development of challenges; and
- Utilising available resources optimally within the financial framework.The road safety campaign of the past festive season focused on pedestrians on freeways, public drinking, drunk driving, speed, drugs, theft of vehicles, cable theft, general crime prevention and road policing.The results were as follows:
- Pedestrians on N1, N4, R80, N14: 545 arrests
- Public drinking: 54 arrests
- Drinking and driving: 184 arrests
- Speed violations captured on speed cameras = 73 812
- Possession of different types of drugs overall = 104 arrests
- A man arrested in Hebron with R1,2 million worth of dagga
- A Pretoria West man arrested with R100 000 worth of drugs
- Stolen vehicles where persons were found in possession of such vehicles = 9 arrests
- Abandoned stolen vehicles recovered = 111
- Cable theft: 9 arrests
- Various crimes: 302 arrests
- Serious traffic law violations = 750 arrests (mainly pedestrians on freeways and drunken driving)
- Vehicles searched = 59 244
- Persons searched = 41 217
- Premises searched for drugs, cable theft and stolen goods = 850
- Vehicles inspected for roadworthiness: 117 638
- Illegal firearms recovered = 25
Msimanga concluded by thanking the people of Tshwane who have shown their support and willingness to work with the City during the festive season and wished them a happy new year.