"We are trying to get the private sector to work together so they can see the bigger picture," said Bryan Howard, managing director of Business Against Crime Eastern Cape (BACEC) at a breakfast held at The Highlander at St Andrew's College on Tuesday morning.
"We are trying to get the private sector to work together so they can see the bigger picture," said Bryan Howard, managing director of Business Against Crime Eastern Cape (BACEC) at a breakfast held at The Highlander at St Andrew's College on Tuesday morning.
Among those attending the function were Grahamstown businesses Insight Technologies, Dupli-Print, Videotronic, Hi-Tec Security and PG Glass along with Brigadier Morgan Govender, Colonel Monray Els, Colonel Wouter van Eyk and Brigadier Vakala Moyake from the police and Senior Superintendent Pierre Kapp from Makana Traffic Services.
According to Howard, the BACEC was formed in 1997 at the behest of former president Nelson Mandela, who asked businesses to get on board to help fight crime. The BACEC, which is a section 21 organisation (non-profit organisation) has set up two crime fighting projects: The Rapid Rural Response (RRR) and the Rapid Urban Response (RUR).
The RRR will cater for the smaller towns and municipalities in the Eastern Cape, such as Port Alfred, Uithenhage, Despatch and Graaf-Reinet, while the RUR will run in East London, Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown.
The project is already up and running in Port Elizabeth and Port Alfred, but according to Howard, the aim is to start in the lesser serviced areas. Howard says the project has been a success in Port Elizabeth and in Port Alfred, especially in Port Alfred, where the crime rate has dropped by 50%.
Port Alfred's 43 Air School and Hi-Tec security branch were very involved in the success of the project in the town and were commended for their excellent response times.
The project will aim to use volunteers who are skilled in crime scene demarcation and basic crime prevention skills. They will also be trained to use two way radios to communicate with the police, traffic services and Hi-Tec Security.
However, they are still waiting for approval to obtain a frequency from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), which could take six months. The volunteer training programme is run by retired Colonel Dave Moorhouse.
The traning will be done every Saturday and it will consist of three phases. In terms of the progress of the RUR in Grahamstown, a memorandum of understanding has been signed, an application to ICASA has been filed, Hi-Tec Security has agreed and SAPS involvement has been guaranteed. Brigadier Govender said he was thankful about the co operation with Hi-Tec.
He did however mention that the police are trying their best but they have also been handicapped by the water shortages, which he said robs them of manpower and vehicles as they are continually transporting people to and from prisons and courts.
Andrew Butters of Hi-Tec security said that the project is a good idea as it involves a lot of different role players and it will facilitate an excellent working condition with all those involved. "It will help to reduce crime in the city," he said.
