Directorate: Safety Promotion and Partnerships

This Directorate partners with key role players in the field of safety to focus on the implementation of safety promotion programmes with an emphasis on youth, women and children.

Community engagements are facilitated with community leaders on issues of policing and safety in the Province.

The Directorate supports the following strategic safety partnerships:

• Chrysalis Academy;
• the Youth Work Programme; and
• the Youth Safety and Religion Partnership (YSRP) programme.

Youth programmes

The Directorate has also partnered with the City of Cape Town (CoCT) to increase safety at identified high risk schools.

Chrysalis Academy

The Directorate supports the training programmes targeting vulnerable youth in the Western Cape and has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with the Chrysalis Academy programme. The academy has been very successful in the facilitation of resilience building of vulnerable Western Cape youth.

EPWP placement programme

The Directorate aims to reduce inequality and poverty, as well as the high unemployment and crime rate, by providing youth with a three-month residential training programme. The programme is supported by the Department through an Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) work placement opportunity for a period of twelve months. It also offers post-graduate training work sessions and opportunities to further enhance and support vulnerable youth.

Peace officer training

Peace officer training is facilitated in partnership with the law enforcement departments of municipalities in the Western Cape. The training targets youth in the Western Cape with a view to unlock opportunities for them in the field of safety and law enforcement.

This training will enable the municipalities to strengthen their safety capacity within their municipal areas in the Western Cape.

The Directorate also supports the City of Cape Town (CoCT) with expanding the law enforcement capacity with a focus on priority high risk schools to reduce the level of violence in schools in the Western Cape.

Youth Safety and Religion Partnership (YSRP) programme

The Directorate is offering faith-based organisations (FBOs) participating in the YSRP programme the opportunity to use youth workers from the EPWP programme to assist with the implementation of their projects. The five WOSA areas are given priority in terms of the allocation of EPWP placements with faith-based organisations. The Directorate continues to build on existing partnerships with the religious sector through the YSRP programme, which is aimed at the co-production of community safety activities to keep the youth positively engaged during school holidays. The Department implements the YSRP during the June and December/January school holidays.

Neighbourhood watch

The Directorate also co-ordinates the reporting on all neighbourhood watch projects implemented in the Department.