With a passion for his community, and a story about how he navigated public spaces, a local Community Policing Forum (CPF) member living with albinism has decided to serve the City of Roses with programmes to teach people about the importance of safety in communities.
Park Road CPF chairperson, Mohau Nhlapo, believes that issues about safety should not only be the government’s concern but should be a joint undertaking between stakeholders, businesses and community members.
“We need more members of the community to participate in safety. It starts as a priority from us in our community and where we live, from our street areas to our suburb area or sub-suburb areas,” he expressed.
Nhlapo highlighted that they are working towards getting the relevant stakeholders involved to plan for 2025. The Park Road CPF consists of six sectors, which includes 25 suburbs in the precinct that are referred to as urban areas and sub-areas.
His goal is to alleviate petty crimes in crime hotspots in the CBD and surrounding areas, he mentioned that this can happen by having foot patrollers and heightened police or CPF visibility in these precincts. “As we moved around the CBD, you felt that you couldn’t walk around freely. So, imagine when we have people who are disabled, or elderly people who come to the city,” he said.
Nhlapo added that by working with law enforcement who already might be swamped with work, it provides him the opportunity to also help make his community a better place. Areas that they are responsible include, Willows, Westdene, Wilgehof, Universitas, Heuwelsig, Dan Pienaar, Oranjesig, Uitsig, Fleurdal and Noordhoek to name a few.
He added that, when the city was first developed a lot of the infrastructure and roads were constructed when there were fewer people in the city. Re-evaluating city planning, to accommodate current population and contemporary needs, will do more good than harm.“How do we ensure that the city can still cater for everyone even in terms of movement because our city is built with most of the roads being one-ways (how does the police have adequate accessibility in vehicles)? We hope to ensure that at least by the end of the festive season the city CPF has at least 500 patrollers.”
He concluded by adding that the CPF will be hosting various programmes in October to raise awareness on the work the CPF does, especially in schools. If you would like to take a look at how Nhlapo navigates the city, visit www.bloemfonteincourant.co.za for more. Contact 075-056-0823 if you would like to be a member or would like to assist.
“Let us protect everyone while we have a chance. So these are the programmes the CPF are initiating and we are thinking that they can be the solution. Remember, the programmes without the support of different stakeholders, will not see the light. They will end up being just a drafted document,” concluded Nhlapo.
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