Tswaing Local Municipality is the latest municipality in the North West province to realise the need to eliminate environmental factors that contribute towards crime, provincial MEC for Human Settlements, Public Safety & Liaison, Ms Desbo Mohono said on Monday.
MEC Mohono’s department will be leading a roll-out of house numbering and grass cutting Letsema/Volunteerism project on Tuesday in Delarayville Matshela Pata Extension 8. The objective of the house numbering project which has elements of the Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED) Strategy is to improve police response to crime incidents that need their urgent response.
The provincial department has jointly with the South African Police Service identified that absence of street names and house numbering delay police response to crime reports by citizens that require urgent police action particularly in new formal and informal settlements.
Police tend to get lost trying to locate exact houses whenever they are responding to emergencies particularly at night as most houses in these settlements either do not have conspicuous house numbers or have them at all. This delays their arrival in situations that require their swift arrival.
As part of strengthening crime prevention to squeeze crime to zero, the department in partnership with the South African Police Service, Lichtenburg Cluster Policing Board, Delarayville Community Policing Board and Tswaing Local Municipality will also engage in grass cutting.
The activity is intended to eliminate overgrown vegetation along footpaths that criminals use to accost their intend victims and or to hide their nefarious activities such as violent crime and robberies.
The department is on a drive to get all municipalities across the province to adopt and implement the CPTED Strategy as part of their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) in order to address environmental factors that contribute towards crime.
Enquiries:
Lesiba Moses Kgwele (Departmental Spokesperson)
Tel: 018 381 9171
Fax: 018 381 9123
Cell: 083 629 1987
E-mail: LKgwele@nwpg.gov.za
