Newcastle, once a clean and safe town, has now become a hub for crime, drugs and illegal business. With this in mind, the Newcastle Municipality made their presence known as they hit the streets with various officials in order to rid the town of the scum that has seemingly taken over the Central Business District (CBD).
Newcastle Municipality Mayor, Xolani Dube, has waged an aggressive war against crime, drugs and illegal activities, together with Deputy Mayor Musa ‘Sugar’ Thwala, Speaker of Council and other sector departments as they conducted an unannounced business walk-about to inspect for illegal activities. SAPS and the Department of Home Affairs also conducted searches in hot spots which were deemed areas with high levels of illegal activities.
The walk-about was prompted by the Mayor’s commitment to rid Newcastle of drugs, crime and lawlessness. The Mayor also met with business owners in Newcastle to forge ways of making the town a preferred destination for job creation. The Mayor’s unannounced business inspections will extend to other places across Newcastle as the municipality aims to achieve its goal of ridding the town of drugs and instead empowering the youth. Mayor Dube emphasised that Newcastle will be back on the map. “I am committed to seeing Newcastle being one of the cleanest towns in the country again, and becoming attractive to investors. I have been calling for this meeting for some time and I hope that the operation today marks the beginning of something good. We have a decision to make – either protect Newcastle or let it be – and that decision needs to be taken so that we can fight crime and protect our children. We need to see how we can resuscitate and re-build our town,” said Mayor Dube. He added that the operation was simply the beginning and further initiatives will be held in order to restore the CBD to its former status.
