Nominations are sought for the City of Cape Town’s annual Neighbourhood Watch Awards, which seeks to recognise the dedication and hard work by accredited individual members and watch teams across the metropole.
The annual awards are not only an opportunity to highlight and honour individuals and groups for their commitment to upholding and improving community safety, but also recognises the important role of supporting and working with the City’s enforcement agencies and other services such as Disaster Risk Management.
The nomination process opened on Monday (11 September) and closes on Sunday 8 October. The awards ceremony will be held at the Council Chambers in the Civic Centre on Saturday 18 November.
Nominations can be submitted in the following individual awards categories:
- Neighbourhood Watch member of the Year;
- Organisational excellence: for excellence in neighbourhood management;
- Mobiliser of the Year: for exceptional efforts to encourage and grow communities in support of safety;
- Inspiration of the Year: a neighbourhood watch leader who has displayed inspirational public leadership, across several neighbourhood watch areas, in support of community safety and the greater public good;
- Crime Fighter of the Year: for exceptional, selfless, professional and committed service in the fight against crime; and
- Courage in Action: in recognition of sustained neighbourhood watch operations in the face of highly compromised community safety, like drug activity or gang violence.
The categories for neighbourhood watch teams consist of:
- Neighbourhood Watch Group of the Year: an organisation that upholds, with outstanding achievement, the purpose of safeguarding its members and property;
- Situational Crime Prevention Award;
- Social Responsibility Award: in recognition of a commitment to addressing mitigating and healing social ills, towards healthier, inclusive and united communities; and
- Courage in Action Group Award: in recognition of sustained neighbourhood watch operations in the face of highly compromised community safety.
“The awards is one of the many highlights on our annual calendar,” said Mayoral Committee member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith. “It’s always heart-warming to see the nominations coming in from communities and fellow watch members, which also serve as a reminder that the contribution of Neighbourhood Watches cannot be under-estimated. They give so much of themselves and should be a motivation to us all to be more involved in community safety and to assist in protecting vulnerable groups. The City will continue to support neighbourhood watches and would like to invite communities to participate in the nomination process. Let’s support our members and be more involved in creating safer communities.”
- Details of the nomination process and an easy-to-follow guide can be found at https://bit.ly/NW-Awards2023.V Enquiries can also be submitted via email to: nw.awards@capetown.gov.za.
