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Dedicated unit to assist existing policing and community safety efforts in Cape Town’s rural areas

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The establishment of a dedicated unit will assist existing policing and community safety efforts in Cape Town’s rural pockets. Read more below:

The City of Cape Town has put together a Law Enforcement Unit to help promote safety in the city’s rural areas.

The 21-member unit has been operational since 1 July 2020 and follows on the deployment of 500 extra officers into the highest crime areas in Cape Town in February as part of a joint project between the City of Cape Town and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, with the recruitment of an additional 500 to follow.

The Rural Safety Enforcement Unit will support crime fighting efforts within rural and semi-rural areas like Morningstar, Philadelphia and the Philippi Horticultural Area and build effective partnerships between all the different role players within these areas.

‘Crimes like attempted murder, assault, theft, vandalism, malicious damage to property, illegal dumping, cable theft as well as contact crimes are among the challenges in our rural areas within the city, and we are hoping to help increase the visibility of enforcement services in these areas that tend to be further removed from police stations. The population in our rural pockets has also grown, both formally and informally, and so there is a need to extend services to these residents.

‘These rural nodes are responsible for much of the affordable food being consumed in the city and the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the vulnerability of poorer communities and the challenges they can have accessing food. Food security is critical for the city’s well-being, especially the most vulnerable citizens. Our rural areas also create jobs for thousands of Capetonians with the Philippi Horticultural Area sustaining more than 2 000 employment opportunities for people living there. Crime threatens food security and jobs, but also drives up food prices as security costs incurred by those producing the food increases the cost.

‘Crime also affects these communities very badly as they struggle to access policing resources. In Philippi, for example, the police station is on the edge of the horticultural area, but given that it also serves other areas like Hanover Park, it is a challenge to split the available policing resources in a manner that meets the needs of all residents. Our rural safety enforcement unit will work in conjunction with the South African Police Service and community structures like Neighbourhood Watches and Community Policing Forums where these exist to help improve safety in these areas,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Key focus areas will include:
• A visible policing presence
• Establishing and improving systems to address crime within the areas of responsibility
• Educating the community on safety and security matters
• Supporting rural development, rural growth and the upliftment of the rural community
• Gathering intelligence for relaying to investigative authorities

Officers will adopt a range of patrol methods, including vehicle, foot patrols and motorcycle patrols. They will also host intermittent vehicle checkpoints in their areas of deployment.

‘Cape Town, like many other cities around the world, has a number of competing crime priorities. The City has, over the past decade, tried its utmost to contribute to the efforts to meet the growing need in many of our communities. Dedicated units come with the benefit of having staff who are well familiar with their area of responsibility and the various roleplayers, which means relationships and trust can be built, and challenges tackled collectively.

‘There is a common perception that crime is a policing responsibility and that is true, in part. Without active communities who take a vested interest in their own safety and in working with the enforcement agencies, we cannot make the gains that are possible through collective effort. The City looks forward to building positive relationships with communities through the establishment of this unit, and ultimately seeing a reduction in crime in their areas,’ added Alderman Smith.

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