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Date: 23/11/2004
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
Title: Mhlahlo: Second National Consultative Conference on Community Safety Forums


Eastern Cape MEC for Provincial Safety, Liaison and Transport, Thobile Mhlahlo’s, presentation at the second National Consultative Conference on Community Safety Forums, Port Elizabeth

EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGIES AT THE LOCAL SPHERE AND THE ROLE OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IN SUPPORT OF SUCH STRATEGIES EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGIES AT THE LOCAL SPHERE

Local government is the sphere at which planning can take the needs of local communities and their particular crime problems into account, potentially providing an effective link between local representatives, municipal departments and the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The White Paper on Safety and Security clearly outlines the role of local government, which involves:
- Ensuring that crime prevention informs planning in all municipal departments
- Development and initiation of targeted local social crime prevention programmes
- Coordination of crime prevention activities.

Both the National Crime Prevention Strategy and the White Paper on Safety and Security put local government at the centre when it comes to crime combating in order to promote and enhance safety of all citizens, through the adoption of a Local Government Crime Prevention Strategy.

This conference, therefore, has a mandate to:
- Cascade the principles of the NAPS to the local sphere of government, and
- Clarify roles and responsibilities of the provincial government and local government sphere with regard to effective crime prevention programmes.

Programme Director, the first decade of our freedom has taught us that:
- Crime is not only the police’s responsibility, but all citizens have a role to play in order to ensure that there is “Peace, Security and Comfort”
- The institutions of the state in all three spheres must work together and in conjunction with communities to overcome crime
- Intensive law enforcement is not the only method to fight or prevent crime
- Implementation of local crime prevention strategies at a local government level can assist in ensuring sustainability and enhancement of economic development.

There has been a growing interest amongst the municipalities to establish the local government police services or municipal policing.

But the White Paper emphasizes that this will largely be limited to major metropolitan areas, where the problems are most pressing and the resources and capacity required for establishing such services are available.

The functions of the municipal police are to focus on less serious crimes. This helps to bolster the capacity of SAPS to deal with the challenge of preventing crime and enables the release of more human resource to investigate serious crime more effectively and efficiently.

We always encourage Municipal Police Services to establish formal cooperation with SAPS. A nodal point to co-ordinate Municipal and Metropolitan Police Services has been established within the Crime Intelligence Division at the Office of the Head of Operational and Development Support, at a national level.

I am of the opinion that similar structures will have to be established at provincial level with the Provincial Commissioner and the Provincial Head of Crime Prevention of the SAPS playing a leading role.

The crime prevention functions of municipal police services are primarily exercised through the visible presence of law enforcement officials by means of point duty, foot, vehicle, or other patrols.

Thus, the Durban City Police have operated for many years as an effective and well trained visible police service, which has reduced crime and the fear of crime in that city.

Visible policing by municipal police services includes responding to complaints and reacting to crime in instances where a delay in activating a response from the SAPS could lead to loss of life, loss of property or the escape of perpetrators.

Crime prevention at the local sphere is challenged by lack of communication between municipalities and law enforcement agencies during the designing of development projects. Some designs may contribute to the uncontrollable increase of criminal activities. This necessitates linkages between urban layout, the positioning of government services, and the connection between increases and decreases in criminality.

Already, a number of cities have begun exploring ways in which local government can become active in the field of crime prevention. Johannesburg, for example, has initiated a Safer Cities programme in conjunction with the NAPS structures, while Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban are pursuing similar initiatives.

In the Eastern Cape, the Department of Safety and Liaison initiated the CSF project in June 2001 in an attempt to improve service delivery of the Criminal Justice System at local level and create sound foundation from which to implement social crime prevention at local level. Three pilot sites were identified for this programme in the province. They include Mhlontlo (Tsolo and Qumbu), Lukhanji (Queenstown area) and the Nelson Mandela Metro (Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch).

In the Nelson Mandela Metro, the CSF project gave birth to the Khusela Abahlali (protect the residents) Programme aimed at developing an effective and sustainable partnership with all role-players for effective reduction of crime in the Metro.

In the years 1993-1996, almost 400 people lost their lives in the towns of Tsolo and Qumbu. Most of the violence was attributed to stock theft and heavily armed groups were behind these criminal acts. The Mhlontlo CSF, since its inception, has intervened in some of the conflicts, including the Bajodini and Blackhill conflict. CSF members facilitated a joint session with the SAPS, CPF, traditional leaders and the community. This move restored peace in the area.

Today, Tsolo has been identified as one of the SAPS Presidential Stations and targeted as one of the stations within the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Nodes. A new court and police station have been built in an effort to restore peace in the area. Recently, the Mhlontlo CSF launched the local Community Safety Plan, which links the area’s crime prevention strategies with the municipality’s local economic development initiatives. The two underpin the Mhlontlo Municipality’s Integrated Development Plan.

THE ROLE OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IN THE SUPPORT OF SUCH STRATEGIES

The White Paper on Safety and Security again clearly outlines the role of the provincial government in support of these strategies.

These include:
- Designing and initiating a capacity building programme to enable municipalities to better incorporate crime prevention issues into the execution of their normal functions
- Where specific crime prevention programmes are established, the provision of expert guidance, monitoring, training, the provision of material relating to best-practice and advice related to the obtaining of donor, business and government funding
- The inclusion of local government inputs into the developing policy process around crime prevention at local level through the establishment of local government crime prevention forums at provincial level. Here, experiences of best practice can be exchanged and national and provincial policy processes impacted upon
- Facilitating and monitoring establishment of district safety forums to ensure viable functioning crime prevention programmes at a municipal level.

CONCLUSION

This conference attempts to strengthen coordination and integration of all spheres of government. The resolution of this conference must contribute to enhance the newly introduced Inter-Governmental Relations Framework Bill.

Issued by: Department of Provincial Safety, Liaison and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
23 November 2004
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za)

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