Introductory newsletter

Doornrandje and laezonia community safety sector sub-forum

Welcome

News flash

Visible Policing

Earlier this year the question was asked as to what vehicle allocation should be assigned to SAPS. Zandisile responded at the time on this channel and noted that: “According to previous CPF records, SAPS Erasmia is meant to be assigned a total of 32 vehicles, including patrol vehicles. There is only one VISPOL operational vehicle.” Currently there are two operational vehicles due to the efforts by the Station Commander. This after 5 years of efforts to resolve the absence of regular VISPOL. It is most unlikely that it could ever be resolved by any new SSF in 30 days or even the next 3 years.

This was also the topic of the large community meeting held at Hennopsrivier in 2019. Notwithstanding the exhausting efforts by Zandisile to resolve this at Regional level for the duration of his tenure of the previous SSF, it remain a concern that still today there is no extensive visible policing other than the assigned Sector Commanders doing patrols over an area that extends 211 km2. It is also the basis for the petition to Provincial Government and Parliament released in June 2022 (for which we only have 88 signatures).

Progress to date

SAPS Erasmia

CPF Meetings

No SAPS Erasmia CPF precinct meeting has been convened as (i) Gerardsville community has been unable to come together to establish an SSF due to internal conflicts. Their last attempt to convene a community meeting ended in disarray and was abandoned (2) the Hennopsrivier safety forum has been placed under administration by Afriforum.

Our particular area has been the only one to date which has been able to re-establish an SSF structure and which has been able to join Laezonia and Doornrandje as a single community.

Progress

Where are we now

The SSF committee has been established following the election process concluded on 30 May 2022. Those residents who participated are also on record. The first two meetings of the SSF were held in June 2022 (last month), the first being with W/O Venter present to approve the committee members and the second with the cluster representatives present.

For the first time, we as a community have conducted a SAPS Erasmia Survey (handed to them in May 2022) and conducted a community CPF Survey. Those residents who participated are on record!

We have of course already seen local businesses step in and assist this community, in particular, *Gomes Sand* along Pretorius Street. A significant step forward for those persons living in that area. The improvements made to the road, the wetlands and the improvement in security is considerable. This no doubt was a substantial cost to Gomes Sand which they have borne themselves.

The constitution, community safety plan and final appointments will then be put to the community to vote on and sign off.

We hope to achieve these outcomes during July or early August 2022 along with some of the other initiatives raised in the very lengthy discussions today.

Without exception, *all* previous SSF’s in our area have all made valuable contributions which will be built on going forward and *many* have continued to offer their guidance and assistance even those from the SSF structures in the last decade. For that we are of course very grateful.

During July 2022 a new SSF constitution has been drafted and approved by the Committee. This will be the first dedicated SSF constitution and is now being adapted by some in Gerhardsville for their use. Once signed the Constitution will be presented to SAPS Erasmia for sign off and approval. It is a derivative of the SAPS Erasmia CPF constitution signed on 23 February 2015.

The position of Deputy Treasurer and Deputy Secretary have been filled by local residents who volunteered.

The process of registering the SSF as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) as required in terms of any CPF constitution is being completed. The SSF will officially be registered as a PBO able to raised funds and donations and provide tax certificates to donors and sponsors. For the first time the SSF will be able to raise funds legitimately and actively approach donors and sponsors. All expenses and financial statements will be published on the website. Funds will be spent on approved safety initiatives.

A dedicate domain for the SSF has been registered with ZACR Domain Registration where all security documents, guidelines, community safety plan, contact numbers, initiatives and historical records will be stored. Important security related information will no longer be lost in WhatsApp channels. The initiative will also focus on environmental crimes.