New commissioner: man of action

The move is part of the SAPS’ national restructuring process, which commenced at the start of the year. Despite numerous delays in the restructuring plans, Govender said he is "very glad" to be back from his two-year stint as cluster manager and station commissioner in Port Alfred.

Govender plans to involve various sectors of the local community in a multi-disciplinary approach to crime prevention.

"In order for the vision of the SAPS to be achieved we need to create a safe and secure environment here in Grahamstown. I would like full community involvement, because all sectors of the community play a part in keeping Grahamstown safe," he said.

Among Govender’s main aims are to maintain and strengthen the existing community police forum, which he said plays a vital role in the safekeeping of the community. The forum consists of an executive committee of eight elected members from various sectors around Grahamstown, who hold monthly general meetings to discuss crime-related issues.

"The meetings are open to the public and I would encourage as many people to attend as possible. I am really hoping for people to involve themselves, so we can be as effective as possible," he said.

Govender said sector policing will be kept intact and that he hopes to increase the membership base to include a variety of members from the local community.

"We need new blood in the policing team. I’m hoping to get new people on board from different spheres of society including the youth, people from different genders and all ages," he said.

Various government departments and the Department of Justice and Correctional Services can also play a crucial role in the prevention and eradication of crime.

"People point fingers at the police for letting people out of jail, but what the public doesn’t understand is that other departments are in charge of this and are following specific procedures. We are hoping to educate people about who is in charge of what, so that the relevant parties are held accountable for their actions," said Govender. 

Govender is also plans to hold regular roadblocks in and around Grahamstown, as well as random nightclub raids and stop-and-search operations.

 "We know that this will be an inconvenience at first, but to have a deterrant is better than dealing with the consequences later on," he said.

 The nightclub raids will incorporate checks for underage drinking and liquor licenses. The stop-and-search operations will close off certain sectors in Grahamstown and officers will search for firearms and drugs.

Govender will continue some of the more successful projects he started while in Port Alfred, such as the Rapid Rural Response (RRR) initiative and Safer Schools project.

The RRR, which Govender described as his most effective project, is based on the co-ordinated responses of participating local organisations to emergencies. The initiative is one-of-a-kind in terms of its objective to unify the SAPS and the private security industry.

The initative aims to improve response times to emergency callouts as well as crime-scene management. Some of the parties involved are the SAPS, the traffic police, security companies and sector policing forums, and Govender said he also wants to get the ratepayers on board.

"I’m hoping that community members of all sectors are going to come closer together to make things more effective. The more involved we all are the more chance we stand of fighting crime," he said.

Govender said he welcomes any members of the public to approach him with information concerning criminal activity and that he is sending out a "harsh and stern warning" to SAPS officials.

"Corruption and police ineffectiveness will not be tolerated. I welcome any members of the community to talk to me about any forms of crime and to become community watchdogs in their areas. People tend to think they can’t approach a cop to give information about other cops but that has changed. I want the community to bring me whatever they feel is necessary," he said.