Programme director, Mr G Penxa
Mayor, Dan Plato
Director, Jeremy Veary
Councillors
Graduates
Members of community policing forums (CPF)
Guests
It is both an honour and privilege to witness and assist in the graduation of 235 neighbourhood watch volunteers today. The work accomplished to train this big group of volunteers fills me with excitement. To the facilitators and coordinators from Community Safety and the Urban Renewal Programme of the city of Cape Town, please accept my gratitude for the invaluable work done to train and skill this group.
I want to thank other stakeholders in this project, namely the Western Cape police, community police forums (CPF) (Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain) as well as the Safety and Security directorate.
While there is a good mixture of youth and life experience in this group of people ranging from 19 years to 66 years, the two communities will need every ounce of this as well as their commitment to keep our neighbourhoods safe and free of the fear of crime. My dictionary reads that a “volunteer” is synonymous to an “unpaid helper (assistant)” and that “neighbourhood watch” indirectly means “to keep watch over your immediate area”.
If I could read your thoughts today, I honestly believe that it will surely say that all of you have volunteered to serve your people to the best of your ability, solely from the goodness of your heart. The certificates that you receive today indicate that you are trained and skilled and willing to exercise basic community law enforcement in order to assist the police with crime prevention. But your payment for work well done will be measured in the general feeling of safety experienced by the communities of Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
Our houses, streets, schools and shops need to be places where everyone can live, work and play in safety, without the fear of crime. Your payment to society is the service that you will render to your fellow citizens. By giving excellent service to your community you added the valuable ingredients of sincerity and integrity.
Dear graduates, the challenges to the safety in each of your communities are huge and very real. The recent crime statistics for the two communities illustrates just that: While Khayelitsha’s highest figures are for robbery with aggravating circumstances (an annual average of 1 000 cases for the past six years), Mitchell’s Plain’s main concerns are drug related crime (an annual average of more than 3 000) as well as burglaries at residential premises, averaging more than 2 000 for the same period.
Ladies and gentlemen, though fighting crime is indeed very risky, I believe that the most dangerous deeds are committed by those sitting on the sideline. I am supported by the words of the great scientist, Albert Einstein who once said, and I quote: “the world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing”.
Be reminded that your work will definitely help to turn the tide of crime and in your community. My hope is that your work will encourage more people to step forward and make them available to serve. We need more volunteers to be the eyes and the ears of the police.
It is my prayer that one of the outcomes of this training programme is to ignite the flame of hope and increase our shared believe that a safer community is not a far fetched ideal.
Thus the time for you to step into action and do what you do best is here, assisting the police and the community policing forums in keeping our neighbourhoods safer. Remember that you will never be alone in your work as neighbourhood watches as you are an integral part of community policing forums, which on their part is link to the local police station. Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain, as well as the Western Cape, will benefit hugely by such strong and dynamic partnerships.
I thank you.
