Cele has listened: Minister promises more cops, funding for neighbourhood watches
|Published
REACT: Minister of Police Bheki Cele at Khayelitsha imbizo
Police Minister Bheki Cele says assistance for neighbourhood watches must be ramped up urgently.
Cele was speaking after an imbizo held in Khayelitsha on Monday, where neighbourhood watch members complained that their hard work is not being recognised by the state.
The crime fighters from Makhaza, who are mostly women, told Cele that they don’t feel safe on the streets as they lack resources.
In a statement, Cele said: “It doesn’t make sense why these foot soldiers must use their own airtime and their own resources to help fight crime.
“It simply can’t be the norm and this is why I have called on the National Commissioner to look at funding these structures so they can be effective in their work.”
Cele also said they are moving cops from safer areas to where they are needed most.
“This is why 80 officers have now been shifted from more affluent areas where crime is under control or in some instances non-existent and moved to high priority stations such as Khayelitsha. We believe this shift will assist heavily in proactive and reactive policing.”
Neighbourhood watch member in Heideveld in the Manenberg precinct, Vanessa Adriaanse, says they are glad their grievances are finally being heard.
“The way things are going, it is clear that the patrollers and CPF are getting no assistance from the (national) government.
“To come in at this stage and acknowledge now that we do need assistance is actually sad.
“We are sent into a war without the necessary tools.
“We need reflector jackets, boots and torches, especially now with load shedding implemented. We are happy he sees we need help even though it is almost too late.”
But Ian Cameron from civil organisation Action Society, who went viral after he was thrown out of a Gugulethu crime imbizo earlier this month, says Cele needs to get sacked.
Cameron was removed from the hall by cops for criticising Cele and raising the issue of resources for patrollers, among other things.
“He not only threw me out for it but he also criticised the neighbourhood watches and said that they are not constitutionally mandated to do what they do,” Cameron tells the Daily Voice.
He reiterated his organisation’s call for Cele to be removed and said the police ministry didn’t even have money to resource their own, “they don’t have enough members, vehicles and detectives.”
“(But Cele’s) budget for VIP protection per year is R8 billion so imagine if he used that money to resource neighbourhood watches.”
The City of Cape Town and Community Safety Department both assist accredited neighbourhood watches in hotspot areas like Manenberg and Khayelitsha with resources, free training and funding.