Community Safety
(1) What oversight measures does his Department have in place to ensure that the City acts against known tenants who sell drugs from council houses;
(2) whether his Department has statistics of council tenants evicted from homes for selling drugs; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) what new strategies are in place to encourage the public to report drug houses without fear of being identified;
(4) whether the same stringent action apply to illegal shebeens; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(5) whether his Department has statistics on how many illegal shebeens are in the province; if so, what are the relevant details?
3.(1) None, council housing/tenants does not fall within the Department’s oversight mandate.
(2) No, the Department is not in possession of such statistics. This question should be directed to the City of Cape Town.
(3) The public is encouraged to report drug houses and all criminal activity to SAPS, the Department and related safety partners including Neighbourhood Watch structures and Community Police Forums. Such information is communicated to the public via communication channels such as media briefings and radio shows. Information received via the Department is then escalated to SAPS or the City of Cape Town (or the municipality) in order for the relevant action to be taken. The Department of Community Safety has also requested information from the SAPS. Once received, the response of SAPS will be provided to Parliament.
The Department has played a proactive role by ensuring confidential information reaches the relevant SAPS personnel and is treated in a sensitive manner. This will encourage the public to report criminal activity as trust and confidence increases.
THE MINISTER OF COMMUNITY SAFETY WAS INFORMED AS FOLLOWS:
The reply of the Western Cape Liquor Authority (WCLA):
(4) It is our understanding that the lease agreements of the City of Cape Town (CoCT) contains termination clauses which deals with the utilisation of premises for illegal activities. It is further our understanding that the CoCT is dependent on the successful prosecution of such criminal cases to initiate civil actions to evict.
The Department of Community Safety has also requested information from the South African Police Service (SAPS). Once received, the response of SAPS will be provided to Parliament.
(5) The Department is not in position to determine the number of illegal outlets within the Province. In this regard, we are guided by an assessment of such by the SAPS. Their estimation is that there are 2012 such outlets. The Department of Community Safety has also requested information from the SAPS. Once received, the response of SAPS will be provided to Parliament.
