Community Safety
(a) What interventions has his department put in place to rebuild broken relationships between communities and the police, (b) what (i) training, (ii) human resources and (iii) financial resources are given to (aa) the policing community and (bb) neighbourhood watches and (c) what other resources are provided besides CCTV cameras?
(a) The Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry, the Expanded Partnership Programme (EPP) with Community Police Forums and Boards, the Policing Needs and Priorities (PNPs), Community engagement meetings, the Community Safety Forums, the MEC Community Outreach programme, the Reward-a-Cop/ Report-a-Cop campaign, and facilitating Public Accountability meetings.
(b)(i)(aa) Training for the Community Policing Forums (CPFs) on the Expanded Partnership Programme. The training is aimed at enabling CPFs to perform the activities set out in section 18 of the South African Police Services Act 68 of 1998.
(bb) The training for Neighbourhood Watches is aimed at co-producing safety at neighbourhood level and is based on a modular training programme. The first module focuses on training on the basic legal principles of safety and how everyone can contribute towards a safer environment. The second module is concentrated on first responder, crime scene management or DNA training, focusing on how to secure a crime scene and how to prevent the crime scene from being contaminated.
(ii) (aa) SAPS are a national entity operational under the National Police Commissioner and National Minister of Police. The Western Cape Government only has an oversight role regarding police activities in the province and therefor has no direct human resource contribution towards the SAPS.
(bb) Neighbourhood Watches (NHWs) operate on a volunteer basis and the department’s staff provides training for the NHW volunteers.
(iii) (aa) For the current financial year an amount of R4.7 million is budgeted for the EPP. In terms of this budget each CPF may earn up to R31 200 per annum.
(bb) Estimated R3.2 million made up as follows: The budget for trainers who provide the training to Neighbourhood Watch members is incorporated in the Cost of Employment Budget, supplemented by funds allocated under the item Goods and Services which includes cost for travel, venue hire, catering and subsistence allowances.
A further R2 million is provided to procure equipment for Neighbourhood Watches.
(c) The Department provides the following resources and equipment to neighbourhood watches:
Bicycles, torches, boots, jackets and reflective bibs.
