Various AfriForum branches in North West on 13 August held a conference in cooperation with the Swartruggens community to establish a constructive collaboration agreement with both the local SAPS and the Department of Justice.
AfriForum was compelled to arrange this conference after residents of Vlakfontein, Silwerkrans, Linleyspoort and Swartruggens approached the organisation to accomplish alternative solutions seeing as these areas are experiencing high levels of crime.
Ten senior officers under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Patrick Asaneng, Deputy Provincial Police Commissioner for North West, as well as Lisa Becker of the Department of Justice attended the event. Community members and tribal chiefs from the immediate vicinity were also present at the conference and gave their inputs by highlighting examples where criminals were prosecuted insufficiently or not at all.
Jan Wessels, AfriForum’s Head of Community Safety, did a presentation to explain AfriForum’s role in the community. The problems that were identified by the participants were recorded in the minutes by Asaneng and Becker, while the action to tackle the crime situation and future service delivery was presented to the audience. An agreement was reached that follow-up meetings will be held and that continuous communication will take place between AfriForum, community leaders, the SAPS and the Department of Justice.
“Forums such as these create the opportunity and culture of open-heartedness that can lead to actively addressing unsafe situations experienced by vulnerable communities. The good spirit of cooperation between the statutory authorities and community role-players manifest in this manner and a joint pursuit to the creation of a safe environment will benefit the most as a result. AfriForum is still committed to the search for methods to establish a safety network in cooperation with the SAPS that will deny destabilisers freedom of movement and action,” says Wessels.
“The open-heartedness and devotion of the role-players involved made it clear that communities are playing a really big role in the combating and prevention of crime. The fact that the SAPS and the Department of Justice attended the event and made constructive contributions is a clear indication that the role and contribution of community members are of vital importance to make a success of the two entities. It was also clear in their contributions that the community’s interests also matter to them. I am excited about the open-heartedness and the possibility of a good relationship between the role-players to eventually have a community where everyone can live freely and progressively,” says Gerhard Faber, AfriForum’s Provincial Safety Coordinator for North West.
Become involved with one of AfriForum’s safety structures today: SMS “Safety” to 45353 (R1).