Chronicle EditorPeter Matika, [email protected]
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is making strides towards combating lawlessness in the city by finalising its municipal police recruitment exercise.
The recruitment effort, which began last month, aims to hire 289 contract security guards between the ages of 18 and 45.
BCC corporate communications manager, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, confirmed that the recruitment process is progressing well. With a closing date of July 30, the recruits are currently undergoing various stages of the process before receiving training and deployment.
These new security guards will have several responsibilities, including safeguarding council assets, checking vehicles entering or leaving council premises to prevent theft, policing vending sites to ensure compliance, and making arrests.
They will also represent the council in court, provide escort services to cash and fuel transportation, and patrol council installations.
The recruitment drive is part of the council’s strategy to strengthen its security personnel and tackle the growing lawlessness that has plagued the city of Bulawayo. Particularly, the city’s centre has been overwhelmed with illegal activities, such as touting, drug dealing, all-night vending, illegal forex trading, and unauthorised passenger pick-ups by long-distance bus crews.
The illegal activities are rampant in the city centre, including Bulawayo-Harare Road, Leopold Takawira Extension opposite Centenary Park, and Bulawayo-Plumtree Road at John Love Motors.
These crimes not only contribute to Bulawayo’s deteriorating cleanliness and order, but also pose a threat to residents’ safety.
Bulawayo town clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, expressed the urgent need for additional security guards to restore sanity in the city.
Areas such as 5th Avenue remain chaotic, especially at night, and augmenting the security personnel will help address these issues.
Mr Dube attributed the recruitment effort’s success to significantly improved revenue collections, which have risen from 40 to 70 percent with the introduction of ZiG.
“We are lacking in terms of enforcement, and by recruiting these security guards, we hope to bring sanity back to the city,” he said.
“Before the introduction of ZiG, the collection and application of that money was a very difficult thing, but now with ZiG being stable we are collecting and applying that money properly and it is working.”
Online Reporter