Lieutenant-Colonel Monray Nel of the Grahamstown police reckons he works more hours during the Festival than some people work in a year.
Lieutenant-Colonel Monray Nel of the Grahamstown police reckons he works more hours during the Festival than some people work in a year.
With an estimated 800 000 people coming to Grahamstown during the 11 days of Festival, the police bear the biggest part of ensuring their experience here is safe and trouble-free.
With more than 80 officers deployed from within the province and other government departments, there will be approximately 30 personnel on the streets every day, on foot, in vehicles and as part of the Mounted Unit.
The letter, a popular annual feature among locals and visitors alike, is particularly useful Nel says for patrolling hard-to-reach places.
Nel and colleague Milanda Coetzer, who is the district's crime intelligence officer, are key members of the Festival's "what if" planning. As members of the Joint Operation Committee, they have since February been planning to be prepared for worst-case scenarios on the health and safety fronts.
"For example, Stage 3 loadshedding will only happen during this period if something really major happens, like Koeberg breaks down," Coetzer told Grocott's Mail yesterday.
"But we are prepared for that."
Plans for on-site triage and back-up emergency care are in place for possible disasters.
And the team has a blueprint for dealing with strikes that could occur, due to the SA Local Government Association's wage negotiations opening this week.
The JOC will communicate via Grocott's Mail and other media, Coetzer said, and will use social media extensively to alert the public to possible problems.
Coetzer and Nel have advice to offer Festival visitors to ensure they don't leave with less than they planned to.
"We are living in quite a safe town," said Nel.
"But because people are relaxed when they're here, they also get careless.
"Crime in Grahamstown, and particularly during Festival, is opportunistic and generally not violent. Visitors and local alike just need to use common sense."
Their safety tips are based on their experience of the kinds of crime that have occurred during Festival in past years.
Safety tips for Festival-goers from the Festival Joint Operating Committee
* Don't leave your cellphone, laptop, tablet on a table.
* Don't walk around with your cellphone in your back pocket.
* Don't leave any valuable in plain sight in your car.
* Check your vehicle after you've locked it – 'car-jamming' is not frequent here but it happens.
* Find out how to use the burglar alarm in the place you're staying – and then don't be casual about it: remember to set it.
* Most of all, use the same common sense you do when you're at home.
* There are five temporary police stations – High Street, Church Square, Fiddlers Green, the Village Green and the Monument – where you can report incidents or concerns.
