Although holiday-makers and residents may not be familiar with ‘Operation Phumba’, many thousands have already benefitted from it.
The safety and security of the many thousands of residents and holiday-makers flocking to the Bay’s beaches and other tourist attractions during this holiday period is paramount to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. To ensure a safe and incident-free Summer Season, the Municipality, in cooperation with the SAPs and NSRI, launched a Safety and Security Programme. The key role played by the Municipality’s Security Subdirectorate in ensuring public safety and an incident free holiday period, which cements the Bay’s reputation as a preferred holiday destination and provides a major boost to the local economy, is often overlooked.
Aligning it to the Summer Season Operational Plan, the NMBM Security Sub-Directorate launched Operation Phumba as a vehicle to address public safety, focusing especially on popular tourist destinations as well as the beachfront area (“Golden Mile”), combining existing human and capital resources to make the Bay a safe and secure tourist destination for visitors and residents.
Operation Phumba will run until 15 January 2013. All available municipal Security Officers will partake in the operation and activities are executed in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies, such as the SAPS and other municipal subdirectorates, like Traffic and Fire.
Focus areas of Operation Phumba include:
Bylaw enforcement: Project Phumba will enforce a Zero Tolerance approach to by-law transgressions. Operations will focus on the consumption of liquor in public, open fires, and illegal camping in non-designated areas.
Foot patrols: Officers on foot-beat are deployed in areas to focus especially on pick-pocketing, unlawful hawking,etc. Trained officers are also be deployed to perform patrol duties on the walkways along the southern beach areas towards the Beacon (Admiralty Way).
Liquor-free beaches: Static check-points have been set up within the boundaries of the King’s Beach parking area to prevent any liquor from entering the beach area: all vehicles will be searched upon entering and all liquor detected will be confiscated.
Public Safety: The Safety and Security Directorate’s mandate is Public Safety; hence its overall focus will be on the safety of the public this Festive Season.
Below are statistics relating to the successes achieved by Operation Phumba in the period 1 – 27 December 2012. With regard to the road traffic offences quoted, it should be noted that Security officers who are also designated Peace officers may also perform certain traffic law enforcement duties.
By-Law Prosecutions:
- Parking on a loading zone – 23
- Parking in disregard of disability reservation – 43
- Parking in disregard of a yellow line – 16
- Metered cab violations – 5
- Parking on a sidewalk – 23
- Parking on a bus-stop – 23
- Stop causing an obstruction – 11
- Parking attendant not registered – 1
- Illegal dumping – 2
- Combined totals – 147
Caution notices for by-law transgressions:
- Unregistered car guards – 2
- Washing of vehicles on a public road – 1
- Prosecutions against hawkers – 3
- Combined totals – 6
- Illegal car guards removed – 30
- Vagrants removed – 14
- Car guard reflective jackets confiscated – 30
- Combined totals – 74
- Possession of stolen municipal property (Nmbm black bags confiscated) – 141
- Liquor confiscated-bottles – 36 units
- Liquor decanted-bottles – 65 units
- Dangerous weapons confiscated – 18
Arrests for by-law transgressions:
- Possession of stolen municipal property (black bags) – 1
- Drunk and disorderly parking attendant – 1
- Drunken driving (Humewood SAPS Case No 225/12/2012) – 1
- Combined totals – 3
Road Traffic Offences:
- Unlicenced and unregistered vehicles – 92
- No front number plate affixed – 2
- Smooth tyres – 3
- Taxi operating without a transportation permit – 3
- Combined totals – 100
Related: See images of Traffic Hooligans and illegal disabled parkers HERE.
