Drakenstein Municipality’s renewed focus on public safety gets momentum

Drakenstein Municipality took the progressive step of inviting a broad spectrum of safety and security stakeholders from across Drakenstein to a Safety and Security Workshop in Paarl this past weekend to discuss and flesh out a way forward for tackling crime and ensuring public safety in the area.

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This forms part of the Municipality’s renewed focus on public safety. The Municipality has created a new, dedicated Public Safety Department, which will be operational from 1 November 2023, and be headed up by Eda Barnard.

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The two-day seminar was opened by?Dr Johan Leibbrandt, City Manager of the Municipality, and facilitated by tactical and safety expert Major General Roland de Vries, former Deputy Chief of the South African Army and author of books such as Eye of the Firestorm.

Major General Marius Groenewald, the Cape Winelands District Police Commissioner, and no less than 23 South African Police Service (SAPS) station commanders from Drakenstein and neighbouring areas participated in the successful seminar. It was also attended by Councillor?Avron Appollis, Mayoral Committee Member for Public Safety at the Municipality, and representatives of farm and neighbourhood watches, community police forums, private security firms, civil rights organisations such as Action Society and AfriForum, and the Municipality’s Law Enforcement and Traffic Services units.

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At the workshop the new Drakenstein Community Safety Forum (DCSF) was founded, which will replace the Drakenstein Smart Safety Network (DSSN).

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The Municipality, with its safety and security partners, will concentrate its efforts on two new precincts in Drakenstein: the Northern (focusing on Wellington, Saron and more) and the Southern (focusing on Mbekweni, Paarl, Simondium, and more). The R44 will form the border between the two precincts.

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