Social crime prevention -

from the eye of the community

The leadership of the Community Policing Form has hailed this year as one of vibrant and effective service delivery in form structures throughout KwaZulu-Natal. This is mainly thanks to the R3-million cash injection provided by the Department of Community Safety and Liaison to the 188 Community Policing Forums in the last financial year. The funding has been allocated to crime prevention projects and to the provision of proper office equipment - marking a new chapter in the life of the department's main stakeholder.

Community Policing Forum Area Board Chairperson, Jerome Sibisi, says the organisation is excited about the developments and is positive that they will have a highly positive effect on efforts to eradicate crime. "We applaud and appreciate the unwavering support we receive from the department. This has seen the role of the Community Policing Forum move from that of building proper relationships between police, government and the community to that of dealing wuth the root cause of social crime", says Sibisi.

Further enhanced

The role of the Community Policing Forum has been further enhanced by the department's Operation Thathulwazi Project, which has already resulted in the training of almost 700 members throughout the province. "We are currently busy engaging all structures in the province to ensure that they develop and submit community safety plans specific to each area's social crime challenges. This information will then be used to tailor-make projects that respond to the crime needs of each specific community," continues Sibisi.

"My appeal is to the communities. Please support the initiatives of the Community Policing Forum by attending crime awareness campaign meetings and workshops, as these are geared towards educating you about various crime prevention strategies."

Sibisi has also called on all role players to continue supporting the partnership, which has proved to be extremenly effective in decreasing crime at grass root levels. "Our attitude towards crime must be exemplary to the community. We hope that the MEC will achieve his vision of reducing social crime in the province, and we commit ourselves to providing a supporting structure to him always." 

From sponsored feature by Kwa-Zulu Natal Department of Community Safety and Liaison Budget 2007/2008, published on April 18, 2007