Bay taverners meet over New Brighton violence

NELSON Mandela Bay taverners say they are determined to keep their patrons safe.

The Bay Taverners' Association, which represents all the taverns in the metro, met at Kwangqoko yesterday and made it clear that they condemned the recent shootings in New Brighton taverns.

They said they wanted to beef up security in their establishments and to work closely with police to ensure their patrons' safety.

"We want people to know that we condemn the killings in our taverns," association chairman Thozamile Fumbeze said.

"We are working with the police to ensure the safety of our patrons. We know the hot spots and that is where the police will focus more in terms of visibility."

Fumbeze said they would be installing surveillance cameras inside all their taverns.

"We will also approach the municipality so they can also install surveillance cameras around taverns and street lights.

"There will be a police number for patrons in all our taverns. The surveillance cameras in the taverns can be viewed by SAPS members any time," Fumbeze said.

He said they wanted the surveillance cameras because in most cases there were no witnesses as people were too scared to talk.

There would also be random searches, he said. - Yoliswa Sobuwa