Who is responsible for enforcing the law and policing the clubs in Lower Main Road?
Obs residents (members of the ONW and NAG and the Subforum) spend many hours late at night with two-way radios monitoring what happens in Lower Main and reporting this to SAPS - and calling for action. Whether through lack of capacity or lack of will, action is seldom forthcoming. We have through our own efforts (and expense) created a neighbourhood watch and set up a CID - but it is SAPS who are responsible for enforcing the law: they have powers of arrest and the power to act against clubs that are not properly licensed or that violate the conditions of their licences. If there is evasion of responsibily it comes from the owners and managers of these clubs. It is not surprising that this incident started as dispute in one of these clubs involving someone who was allegedly a member of a Salt River gang and that (according to the police) the dispute was drug-related. So if there is denialism and evasion of responsibility, it doesn't come from the residents of Observatory. If Teun attended the festival he will have noticed that entrance was controlled, that people were not able to carry in liquor and consume it in the street, and that gangs of pickpockets were not operating (all of which happened at the festival two years ago). These improvements are largely a result of the fact that this festival was organised by residents and businesses in Observatory. Teun, in this case you are shooting from the hip. What more should residents of Observatory be doing? And what more should SAPS and the Liquor Board be doing? This was in my view a murder that was waiting to happen. Over to SAPS. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en.
