No curfew for neighbourhood watch groups

Accredited neighbourhood watches may continue to patrol their areas after the reinstated curfew, Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said on Tuesday.

Fritz said those who have obtained permits from his department to perform patrols during the Covid-19 lockdown Level 3, qualified to carry on doing so in terms of the regulation that pertains to the new night-time curfew that took effect on Monday.

The amended regulation gazetted on Sunday evening states that: “Every person is [to be] confined to his or her place of residence from 9pm until 4am daily, except where a person has been granted a permit, which corresponds with Form 2 of Annexure A, to perform a service permitted under Alert Level 3, or is attending to a security or medical emergency.”

GO AHEAD: Safety MEC Albert Fritz

Fritz said his department has been issuing permits to neighbourhood watches since 8 June, days after SAPS gave the green light for the structures to resume operations as the country moved from lockdown Alert Level 4 to 3.

“It is essential that neighbourhood watches continue to patrol during the curfew hours as we know that these are the times in which crimes such as robberies and burglaries take place.”

The MEC said those, who were uncertain whether they had proper accreditation, could contact the department of safety.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the new curfew on Sunday to curb Covid-19 cases which soared to more than a quarter of a million.

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