A total of 36 neighbourhood-safety officers (NSOs) have been deployed in six wards around Khayelitsha as part of the City’s efforts to curb the scourge of crime in the community.
The group is part of the 700 Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers who recently completed their training ahead of the festive season and were unveiled by Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis at Mandela Park in Khayelitsha on last Thursday, 11 September.
According to the City other officers will be deployed across Cape Town and in Khayelitsha they will be deployed in wards 94, 95, 96, 97, 98 and 99. The deployment has been welcomed by the Khayelitsha Community Policing Forum (CPF), saying the officers would make a huge difference.
Funeka Soldaat, Khayelitsha District CPF coordinator, said the deployment had been long overdue. She highlighted shortage of resources as being a major challenge in Khayelitsha. “This is a good initiative coming from the Mayor. We are happy with the new members. But we wish Hill-Lewis could add more police vans as well. We need law-enforcement vans that will be able to go through the informal settlements.”
Soldaat added it is pointless having more officers with no vans.
Lyndon Khan, spokesperson for Hill-Lewis, stated at least six wards in the area had benefited. He said each ward would get six officers, including a sergeant. “In total, there are 36 NSOs that have been deployed in these wards. The NSOs are separate from LEAP-officer deployments. LEAP wards are ward 87, 89, 90, 91, 93 and 18.” According to Khan 100 LEAP officers in total were deployed in these wards a few years ago.
This time around, he said, they were deployed in certain high-risk areas. The officers formed part of a broader deployment of 700 new officers, providing dedicated policing in each ward. All the officers had graduated on Tuesday 9 September, Khan said, and their boots were already on the ground making a meaningful impact on boosting crime-prevention efforts.
Said JP Smith, Mayco member for Safety and Security: “This investment is… a clear message to the criminals… that their time is running out. A line is being drawn in the sand between lawlessness and order… The City [will] work to ensure decent and good people own their communities again and feel safe at home and on the street.”
