At last week’s monthly CPF meeting, many of the subforum representatives mentioned that they had created WhatsApp groups for residents of the various sectors. These are used to report suspect people as well as crimes in progress. This helps members on patrol to alert police and security companies and improves reaction time.
Most of the representatives reported that December had been quiet, but that petty crimes like fence-cutting and robberies continued.
A big topic on the next meeting’s agenda is the election of the forum’s new chairman. CPF members who would like to nominate a candidate are required to fill in a nomination form. Send an email to dewald.o@vodamail.co.za to receive the form from vice-chair Dawie Oberholster. The cut-off date for submissions is February 6.
A new secretary and three additional members who will assist the committee and act as stand-ins when needed, will also be nominated and elected.
According to White River SAPS, property crime remains a problem, with several house and business robberies continually taking place.
Representatives of Msholozi were also present and painted a grim picture of the situation in the area. There have apparently been several break-ins, hijackings and rapes. The representative reckoned that most of the rape cases were due to the lack of decent lighting in certain areas. A few cases have been reported and are being investigated by the police.
In Heidelberg theft of produce like avocados is an ongoing problem and the representative said some of the farmers had been targeted a few times.
Rural safety was last on the agenda and it was agreed upon that the perception regarding the topic needed to be changed. Any farms, plots and smallholdings outside town are regarded as rural areas and residents should thus be involved in the rural safety committee.
It was also suggested that farmers create a profile of each of their workers, which includes their personal information, their ID number, whether they have a vehicle or firearm and fingerprints if possible.
This profile helps police when they are investigating crimes as the information is easily accessible. Police representatives suggested that a meeting be held between the CPF, farmers and SAPS to discuss creating profiles and how to compile them.
Residents interested in getting involved, can send enquiries to dewald.o@vodamail.co.za or join the meeting on February 10 at 18:00 at the White River Police Station.
