The meeting, which was attended by Honeydew cluster commander Major-General Oswald Reddy and Gauteng CPF chairperson Andy Mashile, opened with an address by the chairperson of the Douglasdale CPF, Jean Berdou. He spoke about some of the highlights of last year and the beginning of this year. Berdou said the annual CPF Sector 1 fun-run had the biggest turnout of participants ever and it was evident that the event is growing.
He made note of the high-profile cases which the Douglasdale police and the Honeydew cluster dealt with last year including the case of a 45-year-old man who was arrested for being in possession of child pornography, the kidnapping, rapes and murders of three toddlers in Diepsloot and the infamous Monte Murder in which a Fourways resident was found dead in the boot of his car in the parking lot of Montecasino.
Berdou spoke about the CPF’s efforts in the community like the numerous clean-ups that were conducted in conjunction with the police and Metro police, the Kya Sands annual Christmas party that brought joy to 5 000 children and the various awareness campaigns that the CPF conducted around Fourways. Berdou thanked and congratulated the forum on being named the best CPF in the country by Crimeline. While the meeting mainly focused on last year’s highlights, Berdou could not help but mention the incredible support the community, the CPF and police offered to the Kya Sands fire victims.
“Nearly 500 000 clothing items were collected and distributed to victims after the fire,” he said. Brigadier Leon Kruger, station commander of the Douglasdale Police Station addressed the meeting and revealed the good news that general crime in Fourways had decreased by eight crimes over the past two years. Kruger also praised the CPF for taking the initiative and implementing the community support programme in the Douglasdale Police Client Service Centre in which trained volunteers assist with crowd control during peak hours.
The CPF ended the meeting by ushering in the new forum which includes many familiar faces, like chairperson Jean Berdou and vice-chair David Foley and a few new members like Danielle Dooley and Tshepo Marakalala.
For those interested in volunteering for the CPF, or specifically for the community support programme, contact Freda Boiles.
Details: 084 315 7281, www.ddcpf.co.za
