Clifton has become the party place for scholars, matriculants and students to come and let off steam before their exams, resulting in wide traffic congestion, litter, a range of bylaw violations, serious crime incidents and massive disruption to residents and other visitors.
Given past experience, the CID, with support from the Ward Councillor lobbied senior enforcement agency officials to put operational plans in place to curb the trend and maintain peace and order in the area this October. The CID also contracted a social media community manager to monitor all channels, identify accounts calling for Clifton takeovers and monitor the traction these accounts gained. This information was passed to the City’s Strategic Information Management Unit and was crucial in the decision making around deployment in October.
There were 4 separate calls for parties in Clifton over just 3 weekends in the month. Each gathering was met with an integrated enforcement agency operation, comprising officers on ground and in vehicles, traffic stops, drone surveillance, and even equestrian units. A zero-tolerance approach was adopted – alcohol was confiscated and fines issued; music boxes and speakers were taken for safekeeping and a large number of dangerous items as well as substances were confiscated. All of these actions resulted in a crime free month – despite the massive crowds – and 1 750 units of alcohol prevented from being consumed on the beaches and in the public spaces.
The work of the CID continued to show impact, recording 242 contacts with the street-based community, 31 infrastructure fault reports, 637 CCTV and hotline alerts responses to, and 919 bags of rubbish filled from the beaches, streets, and other public spaces.
We have already noted social media calls for end of exam parties towards the end of November (as has happened in prior years). These have been shared with the enforcement agencies, and SSIMS risk assessments are currently being conducted which will inform possible operational plans.
Please be assured that the CID team, with support from the Ward Councillor will continue to do all we can to make Clifton a safe, enjoyable, and fun place for all who live, work and visit this beautiful part of Cape Town.
October by the numbers: