Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Council Speaker Buyelwa Mafaya officially launched the neighbourhood watch programme in Schauderville on Wednesday, 12 August 2020.
This comes after the Speaker’s office received requests from concerned community members who were seeking government support for the recently formed neighbourhood watch committees to patrol in the area to fight crime.
Tired of crime in the area, the teams comprising mostly of young men and women from Schauderville have taken it upon themselves to work with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to combat crime in their community following a number of criminal incidents.
With the COVID-19 lockdown in place with a curfew that was recently introduced, frontline workers increasingly became easy targets to criminals who robbed and mugged them during the early mornings and late nights.
“Every day we talk about Gender-Based Violence (GBV), if we are not doing anything practically about it and just talk about it we cannot combat it. We must do that as residents with SAPS so that we overcome this pandemic of GBV. Today as the office of the Speaker we have seen it necessary that if we really want to be effective we need to come and stand together with you and bring our different expertise to work together to do more.”
“Even if the residents have stood up to say ‘enough is enough’ in the fight against crime, but if the Municipality or government is not with you, you will not succeed in combating crime hence my office has seen it necessary that you need to be visible in the community and known because at times you walk during dark hours and you will need torches,” said Speaker Mafaya.
Speaker Mafaya donated protective tools to the neighbourhood watch committee members including torches, reflector bibs and whistles for the members to use when they do patrols.
Similar structures have been launched in Zwide and Uitenhage to ensure a safer NMBM for residents and visitors.
The Schauderville neighbourhood watch committee comprises of 55 members, 12 of which are women. They work on a rotational basis to help fight crime within the community.
Gelvandale Police Station Commander Brigadier Lawrence Soekoe commended the commitment of the residents to deal with crime in Schauderville. He said police officers would work closely with the committees to ensure the success of the initiative.
Gelvandale Community Police Forum chairperson Wayne Jaggers and school principals in the area also pledged their support to the cause.
Resident Gareth Van Heerden who is also a member of the patrol team said: “I joined the patrol team because I want to encourage the next generation to do the right thing. We are so tired of crime in this area. We cannot even sleep peacefully without hearing noises of someone breaking in or being robbed.”
Another resident Jamilha Mohamud said women also had a role to play to combat crime in the area.
“I know it is unrealistic for us all to patrol the streets but through our windows we can tell if something mischievous is happening outside and we can report these activities. For this to work there has to be trust between the community and the neighbourhood watch committee”, she added.
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