The City of Cape Town’s Safety and Security Directorate is preparing for the anticipated influx of tourists to the Mother City this summer, with Metro Police and Law Enforcement Officers intensifying operations in order to keep the main tourist attractions safe as part of the City’s Festive Season Safety Plan. This is part of the City’s commitment to providing a safe environment for everyone to enjoy the city and its many offerings.
As in previous years, Metro Police and Law Enforcement Officers will be deployed to residential areas, beaches, central business districts, industrial areas and public transport interchanges. Officers will conduct patrols in the industrial and business areas, where annual year-end parties are expected to take place before the start of the main holiday period.
In addition, joint operations with other enforcement agencies such as the Customs Counterfeit Goods Unit and the South African Tobacco Institute have been scheduled in an attempt to clamp down on the sale of counterfeit goods.
Members of the public can also expect a stringent approach when it comes to the contravention of City bylaws.
“Although most of our members will be deployed to the City’s beaches where we will focus on consumption and possession of liquor, we will still maintain a high presence in residential areas,” said Metro Police Deputy Chief, Yolanda Faro.
Officers will be focusing primarily on driver and vehicle fitness; drunk driving; enforcement of municipal by-laws; and transportation of and dealing in illegal narcotics. To this end, they will conduct patrols in the vicinity of places of entertainment as well as visible patrols on routes to and from major shopping centres, tourist attractions, business and residential areas, and main routes to and from popular beaches.
This is in line with the operational interventions and visibility strategy to help ensure a safe Festive Season for all residents and visitors to the city.
“Last year Cape Town saw an incident-free Festive Season overall, and the Metro Police will endeavour to continue this trend by focusing patrols around areas such as ATMs, which usually see an increase in visitors at this time of the year,” said Deputy Chief Faro.
This year the City will also make use of Neighbourhood Safety Officers (NSOs) to be deployed in various areas. The NSOs will be tasked with identifying any potential law enforcement problems and alerting the relevant law enforcement authority immediately.
A geographical deployment plan has been drawn up to ensure the most effective deployment of resources during the Festive Season. Priority days have also been identified, where extra officers will be deployed on active duty. Regional co-ordinating centres will ensure effective law enforcement at a localised level.
