Young. With a strange name.
These are usually some of the things people say when they meet Emre Uygun (29) or hear that he’s the new Bellville Community Police Forum (BCPF) chair.
But he’s used to these types of assumptions.
Uygun, who lives in Boston, was elected as the new chair of the organisation in August after the previous chair, Sean Mcleland resigned abruptly in June due to “personal reasons”.
Uygun is the fifth CPF chair since Hennie Koekemoer finished his five year term of office in 2020. Since then, four people have taken the helm and resigned – Cheryl Quantrill, Jean Beukman, Phillip Moller and Mcleland. Official reasons given by everyone for this decision have varied from health reasons to work responsibilities. But rumours have always persisted that infighting (within the organisation and with police) may have been the reason for some of the people’s decisions.
Mediation
Uygun is quite certain he won’t be joining this statistic and will be finishing his full five years.
For one, his day to day job includes mediation, specifically with different personalities and government sectors. “We need a CPF chair who can mediate.”
He works as a community development officer for the Western Cape government, working as the link between government and communities. On its website, the role is described as someone who “facilitate(s), mediate(s), create partnerships, network(s), mobilise(s), create linkages and empower(s) community members to exercise their rights.”
Before this he worked as a Health Promotion Officer for government. “I was dodging bullets every day.”
Uygun grew up in Kenwyn with his South African mother, Virginia, and Turkish father, Atinc.
His father has been working in Norway for years and even though he has the opportunity to live overseas, he feels he can do more here. “People in South Africa still need help.”
For years, people were confused about his name and ethnicity. This is gradually starting to change as Turkish TV programmes rise in popularity in South Africa. These days many people recognise his name from popular shows.
Working way up
He never quite envisioned himself in the role he has now. His grit, however, makes him stand out. His first job was pushing trollies for a Spar while at school. After matric he worked as a receptionist at a gym. He was head-hunted twice – first by a wellness company and later another company. Then the government jobs started.
Government has taught him you need a “multi-sectoral” collaboration if you want something to work – local, provincial and national governments need to work together.
And this is something he will achieve, he says. “The CPF isn’t all about crime,” he says. “We can’t just fight the symptoms.” Society needs to look at sustainable solutions for social ills. This will be especially challenging as sex workers as well as dumped needles used by drug addicts have been charged topics for many meetings. Uygun says experts will be attending meetings in the future and will also talk on how the problems can be solved. He looks at these things holistically, he says. His work has exposed him to a lot of suffering. “It has shaped me to have a humble approach.” This may also affect his approach to rising homelessness and crime. When it comes to his age, he feels the youth need to get more involved fighting crime, yet also learn from elders. “We need to come to together and work together.”
