The East London beachfront can at times be highly dangerous.You don’t believe me? Then ask EFF national chair Dali Mpofu, who unfortunately must still have the scars to show for it.
The top advocate was stabbed several times by Chuma Komeni, 27, and Thulani Simon, 22, who also robbed him of his personal belongings in a bushy area along Eastern Beach in East London on April 11 2013.
What he was doing there is his own business. Oh, wait, he did say he had taken a walk.
That is a reasonable explanation as we have all had those moments where you just want to be alone and clear your mind by, well, for people like Mpofu, taking long walks at the beach.
Happily his attackers were successfully convicted. Komeni was sentenced to nine years while Simon was slapped with five years in prison.
Lawlessness on East London beaches is well-documented. And with thousands of people expected to flock to the city for the festive season, there is likely to be a spike in crime. I am not being a prophet of doom. This is the sad reality.
And the police cannot dedicate all their personnel to the beachfront as other areas also have to be policed.
Criminality at beaches is not only an East London problem as tourists have been assaulted and raped in Port Elizabeth and other coastal towns.
A case in point is businesswoman Andy Kawa who was gang raped for 16 hours in 2010 while walking along the beach in Summerstrand PE. Luckily, Kawa survived the ordeal and is now a rape activist.
Small rural beaches like Hluleka Ngqeleni and Mpande Beach in Port St Johns too have had their fair share of criminality. At some point beaches like Mpande were used to settle scores between different villages as some felt the beach belonged to their respective village. Over the years this led to brutal fights and bloodshed.
More complaints about illegal activities will likely be reported to authorities during the festive season throughout the Eastern Cape.
This should not be the case as the festive season is supposed to be a time to be jolly, kicking back, relaxing and reflecting on the year that was.
It is supposed to be a time where people embrace one another and spread the cheer around and have fun – responsibly.
But some people don’t know how to do that. And because of the millions of litres of alcohol that will be consumed, there will be a couple of fracas that turn violent during social outings. This is inevitable if history tells us anything.
Let me reiterate: this should not be the case.
And when tourists and beach-goers are attacked, this affects tourism and might result in fewer people visiting next time around.
Given the depressed economy, that is something we can ill-afford.
This is why the Buffalo City Metro has roped in Falcolux Security Solutions to patrol the city’s beachfront and the Esplanade 24 hours a day until the end of next year.
The metro will pay R1m for the four patrol security officers, who have been armed with batons and radios and will cycle around the Esplanade each shift.
So what can four officers on bicycles and with batons and radios do against scores of drunk and disorderly people, you ask.
A lot really.
While the officers – who according to Falcolux Security Solutions owner Max Msingwana, are highly trained, some with with more than five years experience – might not have the power to arrest criminals, they will play their bit and hopefully prevent crimes.
Where criminals are spotted in the act, for example dealing in drugs, the security guards will alert the police, who will then effect the arrest. That sounds easy enough.
Let’s hope the police show up and do not make their normal excuse of “there are no bakkies available”.
The security guards will also crack down on public drinking, transport tourists to their preferred destinations along the coast, offer medical attention and search suspicious people.
But this is where a problem might well arise. Who decides that a person is suspicious?
Will the “suspicious people” allow the security guards to search them? I have serious doubts about that but time will tell.
Will the security guards carry some form of identification or something from the police that basically gives them the right or authority, for lack of better words, to search the “suspicious people”?
This will become even more difficult at the popular East London hangout spot, Ebuhlanti, identified by Msingwana as one of the areas of security focus.
For those who have never been to Ebuhlanti, it is an area near Eastern Beach where people get together, braai meat and drink alcohol, mostly from their cars. It is the unofficial meeting spot for thousands of people. Depending on who you are, it can be fun. But it is definitely not for everyone.
I am sure many people will welcome the introduction of security guards patrolling on their bicycles over and above the police cars that now and then drive around the hangout spot.
Will having four men, or women, on bicycles solve all crime on the beachfront?
No, but at least something is being done rather than sitting back and letting criminals run amok.
No one has a magic wand to spirit away crime, so every little effort made towards turning the crime tide is more than welcome...