On 12 and 13 March AfriForum’s safety structures in the Northern, Eastern and Western Cape participated in this organisation’s national patrol. More than 1 000 AfriForum members participated in the patrol and they were supported by nearly 270 other members, including various members of the SAPS. Approximately 900 vehicles covered 16 200 km and handled 32 incidents.
Members of the SAPS, security companies and other neighbourhood watches become directly involved which contributed to the successes. These activities included the following: wide and high visibility patrols, riding convoys through towns, roadblocks in cooperation with the SAPS, removing suspected persons from residential areas and confiscating a variety of illegal, homemade weapons.
The effective and purposeful cooperation of members that are not AfriForum neighbourhood watch members, is very important to the neighbourhood watches. The goal of the national patrol, that takes place every quarter, is to in particular encourage cooperation between AfriForum, the SAPS, security companies and other neighbourhood watches.
“Safety is in everyone’s interest and it is therefore important that everyone work together to effect higher levels of safety in our communities. The government does not have the ability or the desire to do it and this necessitates communities to take ownership of their safety themselves,” says Mark Kuys, AfriForum’s Head of Safety for the south region.
Become involved today with your local AfriForum neighbourhood watch and help to combat crime. SMS your name to 45353 (R1) or contact your nearest AfriForum branch or neighbourhood watch.