In the past year and a half I have been exposed to a fair share of crime updates and seen behind the wall of false security we live in.

Murders are committed in South Africa, women are raped, and the elderly are robbed.

That is the reality.

What are you doing to change the situation we are plagued with in our country?

Are you a partial observer or are you involved in the fight against crime?

The beauty of it all is that you do not have to enroll at police college to do this.

I attend two Benoni Community Police Forum (CPF) meetings in the past few weeks and was astonished by the lack of community interest.

Both evenings were not the warmest, but I do not think the weather played that big a role.

At one of the meetings, a senior member of the EMPD addressed the handful of people present.

The EMPD officer said certain groups of people in the country do not stick together and are only there to see and care to their own needs.

As long as you are okay, there is no concern or compassion for anyone else.

This apathetic view of others’ suffering is one of the reason crime continues to destroy families the way it does, the EMPD official said.

Why are we not concerned about our neighbour, the man on the street?

Well, if you are guilty of this, there should be solace in knowing there are ordinary people on the street who belong to the CPF and who are making a remarkable difference in the community.

Some of the CPF members are passive, but others are actively involved with the police and spend their own time and money to help people who are unknown to them.

From what I have heard, the CPFs in Benoni are some of the most active in the country.

There is a real sense of community in Benoni and a true will to help fellow citizens from these men and women.

What drives them to do these selfless deeds?
They are not just critising, but making a concerted effort in securing the safety of their family and the ones unknown to them.

About 20 to 30 per cent of the Benoni CPF members cannot even afford the attire needed for patrols, but that does not discourage them to get involved.

It is understandable that you cannot be expected to dedicate you life to such a cause (although some of the members seem to do just that), but joining and slowly getting involved might make you question why you never considered it years ago.

Why don’t we all get to know our neighbours and become involved in the fight against crime, that’s far easier than ranting about the problems on Facebook every day? KvdL