Joint Statement by the Western Cape Government and City of Cape Town- NHW Awards | Western Cape Government

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Joint Statement by the Western Cape Government and City of Cape Town- NHW Awards

27 March 2018

Joint Media Release by Western Cape Minister of Community Safety, Dan Plato, City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member: Safety, Security & Social Services, Alderman JP Smith

[Note to editors: A full list of winners and category descriptions are now attached, photos from the awards ceremony and speech inputs audio available on request]

Table View Neighbourhood Watch wins top honours Last night, Monday 26 March 2018, Table View Neighbourhood Watch walked away with the top honours as the “NHW of the Year” during the first joint Neighbourhood Watch Awards ceremony hosted by the City of Cape Town (CoCT) and the Western Cape Government Department of Community Safety (DoCS).

Table View NHW managed to come out on top ahead of Summer Greens NHW and Tygerdal and Glenwood NHW who clinched first and second runner up respectively in the same category during last night’s awards ceremony. Also among the winners were NHWs involved in focused community safety projects in specific neighbourhoods. Community volunteers from eight (8) areas were commended for their dedicated participation on the Walking Bus initiative, including Nyanga, Bonteheuwel, Khayelitsha (Site C), Kraaifontein, Valhalla Park, Happy Valley, Pelican Park (New Horizon) and Mfuleni. The Khayelitsha Town 2 NHW won the City of Cape Town’s Outstanding Achievement Award (Gold) for their contribution to the Alcohol Harms Reduction Game Changer.

The NHW Awards for the year 2017 held last night was the first under the new WCG-City partnership and showcased both the City and Provincial Government’s appreciation of our NHWs and their members as treasured safety partners. Poised to become an annual event, the awards saw more than 80 NHW structures and members nominated for one of the 34 available awards split into three broad categories to recognise and celebrate teams of distinction (Bronze Awards), individual excellence (Silver Awards), as well as outstanding achievement awards (Gold Awards).

Alderman JP Smith thanked NHW members present for their dedicated community service: “What we are seeing is a community led initiative around community policing. With as much as 20 000 trained NHW members in the City and probably closer to 50 000 NHW volunteers in some form or another active in our communities, you are at the forefront to improve safety in our communities and often teach both the City and police valuable lessons in community intelligence led policing. Our partnerships with each other, including the Western Cape Government, keep on growing and we will keep trying to find new ways of supporting our valued NHWs. Our job must be to roll the obstacles out of your way for you to continue to grow in service of your community and for us to support you through that.”

Western Cape Minister of Community Safety, Dan Plato, emphasised that Neighbourhood Watches form a crucial part in the united front against crime: “As a Province and as a City, we rely on you as ordinary residents in our communities to help keep us safe. Working under the auspices of the Western Cape Community Safety Act, the Western Cape Government continuously look for ways to better support and develop our Neighbourhood Watches – not only in the City but across the province. To this extent, we are looking to accredit another 100 NHW structures in the year to come and are setting aside more than R2.5 million for training and equipping our NHW structures in the province.”

Included in the prizes that winners received last night was extra equipment for members to use in their duties - such as first aid kits, torches, floodlights and 2-way radios - as well as fun excursions donated by partnering institutions.

Both the city and province call on communities and businesses to keep supporting their local accredited Neighbourhood Watches in our joint efforts of creating safer communities.

There are now more than 130 accredited Neighbourhood watches in the City of Cape Town metropolitan area – and more than 200 accredited NHWs across the province. The Department of Community Safety envisage rolling out similar awards to other Municipalities across the Province in the near future to acknowledge and celebrate the work done by safety volunteers in service of their communities.

180326 - CoCT DoCS NHW Awards 2017 Final Winners

Media Enquiries: 

Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security; and Social Services, City of Cape Town
Tel: 021 400 1311
Cell: 083 675 3780
Email: jean-pierre.smith@capetown.gov.za (please always copy media.account@capetown.gov.za).

Ewald Botha – Spokesperson to Minister Dan Plato
Cell: 079 694 1113