The first Community Police Forum (CPF) Summit in the Western Cape, hosted with the City of Cape Town and Cape Winelands Districts, was held at Turfhall Primary School, in Lansdowne, on Saturday August 5, focusing on topics related to increasing transparency and the policy framework on community policing among others.
Community Safety and Police Oversight MEC Reagen Allen, who delivered the keynote address, said ensuring that all role-players within the security cluster are on one page “is of utmost importance if we are to overcome crime”.
“Petty politics and pulling in different directions is only strengthening the hands of criminals. Let’s be united against crime while diligently fulfilling our different roles.
“In the end it should all lead to a safer Western Cape for all. It is important that every aspect of criminality, even if it’s internal, be removed. The status quo in the fight against crime can and should not remain.
“Let’s be sharp, clear, deliberate and execute our duties like never before. Our residents deserve to live in safer, improved and dignified environments,” Mr Allen said.
Cape Town Central CPF chair, Marc Truss, said the summit was a long time coming and was welcomed. “Over the years we had various projects and workshops but this summit brought together many CPFs and it was very well-attended.”
He said while there was good dialogue, initiatives and ideas shared at the summit, this was a start for the stakeholders to help restore people’s faith in the police, which will in turn get everyone to work together to combat crime.
“Our problem is that we are an under-resourced country, but we need to work together to act.
“Let’s keep the momentum in the same spirit in order to maintain the relationship between the community and the men (and women) in blue, and to restore faith in our people in uniform – if this comes together, then everyone will come on board.”
The summit was also addressed by exco members of the Western Cape Provincial CPF Board, as well as local government officials and SAPS representatives and was also attended by City of Cape Town District Commissioner Major-General VP Beaton and deputy president of Sunni Ulama Council and exco member of Cape Town Ulama Board, Moulana Sayed Imraan Ziyaee.
Shaykh Sayed Ridhwaan Mohamed, exco member of the Cape Town Ulama Board, said the summit focused on increasing transparency, the policy framework on community policing, police oversight and funding models to support CPFs, improving community safety, and creating an atmosphere of trust within the region.
Mr Mohamed said: “Moulana Sayed Imraan Ziyaee addressed the summit with a brief opening prayer and talk focusing on spiritual crime prevention and volunteering.”
Colonel Dawood Laing, station commander at Grassy Park SAPS, said the CPFs had been enlightened by the event. “We needed to share with the CPFs new strategies and the new district that was formed. We have been divided into three sub-districts now compared to the two that we had. We are now east, west and south districts.”
He added that there was discussion of the way forward for the police. “We are implementing evidence-based policing to see if we can maybe improve our conviction rate. We also discussed the importance of sector policing, junior commissioners, etc.”
Mr Mohamed said: “At the end of the summit, the attendees agreed that greater collaboration and increased transparency are essential to maintaining public trust and creating safe communities. Representatives pledged to work together to continue to strengthen police-community relations and ensure a safer South Africa.
“The conclusion of the summit marked a new chapter for the Western Cape region. With increased collaboration between police stations, local authorities, and CPFs, the Western Cape will move forward with the aim of becoming a safer and stronger region,” said Mr Mohamed.
Fransina Lukas, chairperson of the Western Cape Provincial Community Police Board, said summits such as these are aimed to emphasise community mobilisation with specific deliverables, such as implementing crime prevention measures, rebuilding trust between SAPS and communities, implementing the Community Policing Strategy, and enhancing co-operation between the community and police for safer communities.
