The civil rights organisation AfriForum announced the opening of its office in Durbanville in the Western Cape this week. AfriForum has more than 40 000 members in the province and will manage several community projects, especially concerning safety, from this office and through its local branches in its provincial structures. AfriForum also wants to promote increased autonomy of this province and sees the decentralisation of power as a solution for the crisis in the country.
William Waugh, Head of Organisation Building at AfriForum, says the increasing autonomy of the Western Cape is an important part of the organisation’s strategy. “We are here to make a modest start towards this strategy. It is important that AfriForum takes note of the requirements of different areas and communities. We for instance have control rooms in other provinces because there is a need for it. There is also a need for good coordination in the Western Cape and an office is the best way of achieving this.”
Waugh says one of AfriForum’s main objectives in the Western Cape is the development of stronger communities. “Stronger communities have a stronger level of decision making over their future and we want to create hope for such a future. Service delivery in this province is less of a problem compared to the northern part of the country. A different set of challenges, of which safety is one, is visible in the province. AfriForum is also here to listen to the challenges faced by people of the Western Cape.”
