Rensburg’s new sector commander introduced

The new Rensburg sector 3 commander, Constable Yolandi Daschner, was introduced on September 27.

The meeting was opened by Heidelberg Police Forum’s Flip Minnaar, who welcomed everyone and explained the agenda of the meeting.

In Minnaar’s address, he said, “We as the community are the eyes and ears of the police. The police can’t be everywhere but we as the people of Heidelberg are in a position to help and be part of fighting crime in Heidelberg.

“We must be vigilant and be involved. Crime fighting is everyone’s business to ensure the criminals are brought to book by the SAPS. We have a mandate to share certain resources in combatting crime with the SAPS,” said Minnaar.

“We want to be more visible and available in the area,” said Heidelberg station commander Colonel Phiwe Ndwandwe.

“Crime is affecting everyone and together we can make a difference. The main areas of crime at the moment are infrastructure vandalism and theft, electrical box vandalism, public disturbance, drinking in public, home robberies and home invasions to name a few.”

Daschner said, “I am honoured to be appointed as sector commander of Sector 3. Together we can make a difference in the community. By-laws will be high on the agenda and to tackle them we need the community to assist and be our eyes and ears on the ground.”

Minnaar said,“To make a difference we must start with things we can control and start to become a force that is trusted by the community. We need more active involvement from the local community.

“There also needs to be trust between the CPF, SAPS and the community, and to get that right we need an attitude change from the SAPS towards the man in the street and community members. We need to take back Heidelberg from the criminals for the sake of everyone living in Heidelberg.” Various members of the community had some concerns as to issues in Rensburg.

Drugs, illegal substances, public drinking, vandalism, yard invasions, indecent exposure, urinating in public and personal safety were mentioned.

Ndwandwe concluded, “Law enforcement needs to be taken seriously and together with the sector commander and local CPF we have a strong structure. We need to ensure communication channels will be maintained between the groups.

“We will ensure more visible policing is done and that we can work towards a crime-free Heidelberg in the future.”