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Crime-weary residents of the Durban suburb of Wentworth have come up with a novel way to pass on information about drug dealers to local police --by putting their anonymous tip-offs in their church collection plate, it was reported.

"You can go nowhere in Wentworth without coming across drug trafficking and addiction," Rev Cierigh Samaai, of the Inter-church Social Action Alliance Campaign.

Churches and the umbrella body Communities Building Credible Ownership initiated the tip-off system in co-operation with Colonel Deon Singh, the new commander of the Wentworth police station.

According to Samaai, a standard issue form for tip-offs to the police had been developed and could be placed inside an envelope identical to the one used by parishioners to place money in the collection plate.

Any information collected was then handed to the police.

"The drug problem in Wentworth is so severe that people are arriving from as far away as Newcastle to buy drugs," Samaai said.

Drug dealers were thought to have gained a foothold in the working class area's residential flats.

"The dealers pay people's rent and school fees in exchange for the use of the flat for drug storage or to sell drugs from."

Comments

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Sat May 25 16:12:09 SAST 2013 ::

Dec 10, 2012

2shy2call

Clever people. BIG UP to you.
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Dec 10, 2012

ShadesOfGrey

People want to get high. Period. No amount of legislation will change that. The only thing one can do to combat this issue completely is to take the illegal trade in drugs, decriminalize and regulate it. Then the gangsters running the black market will disappear. Look at prohibition and learn from history guys, otherwise we are bound to keep on making the same mistakes.
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Dec 10, 2012

Coldcurry

I commend this church highly, Communities never realise the window of opportunity of churches for combatting crime and being the loudest voice to push service delivery
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Dec 10, 2012

MommaC

I hope the church is following up on if the cops are DOING something with that information.
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Dec 10, 2012

lindsay

well thats creative church snitching it guarantees that the snitch will remain unknown because if you snitch to the police you may end up dead they do tell
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Dec 10, 2012

iPhone4

MommaC I doubt it's the churches task to follow up, the fat cakes must get up and do something about the tip offs but coz we know fat cakes are snitches too that church might be in danger
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Dec 10, 2012

LeparaThePresident

very creative.But i want to know is the pastor a police person?
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Dec 10, 2012

LAC

Good all the parishes should use this as a best practice to prevent crime and to help the police to have a safe community. Safety is the responsibility of the community and not only the responsibility of the SAPS.
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Dec 10, 2012

MsKinkyakaKamaSutra

Crime-weary residents of the Durban suburb of Wentworth have come up with a novel way to pass on information about drug dealers to local police --by putting their anonymous tip-offs in their church collection plate, it was reported.
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What an innovative way.......... wish they could do the same for child abuse

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Dec 10, 2012

Msiphos00

Now this is the end of this once it leaks like this to the media the trafficers are going to make other plans
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