Wierda 2 Community Forum Enhancing Safety Together

1. Wierda 2 Community ForumTogether we help each otherWierda 2 Gemeenskaps ForumSaam help ons mekaar

2. Company (Organisation) • Section 21 Company • Management Team • Lost 2 x chairman • Current team: • Chairman Danie Beetge (for want of others) • Vice Chairman Pieter Strydom • Secretary Chrizel Strauss • Finance Danie Beetge • Logistics Theo Fourie • Assistant Gerrie Bronkhorst • Marketing / Communication Mike Goetsch • Assistant Vacant • Website Alan Holm • Co-ordinator Johan Stadler

3. Reason for this meeting? • To decide whether the Wierda 2 Community Forum should carry on providing the service it currently does?

4. Background of W2CF for those that still do not know • Started +-18 months ago after spate of murders and robberies in our area. • Goals were to: • Pro-active intentions to crime • Become self sufficient • Police & other crime prevention institutions • Membership driven • Local governments

5. Pro-active intentions to crime • Visibility – Crime prevention to be done so community feels safe & criminals unsafe. • Pro-active – Prevent crime before it happens • Community relationships • Own area (WP2) • Surrounding areas – Expand crime free area • Involvement – Community to be more involved than simply joining. Lots of talented people in community to help us. NOT BEING DONE • Businesses – Involve with possible funding

6. Become self sufficient • Own identity – Forum to develop own identity • Control room – In view with problems experienced with SAPS, makes contact for & with community more important • Marketing – To be successfully marketed to the community and general public

7. Police & other crime prevention institutions • Build and retain trust relationships • Had an excellent relationship with SAPS • New station commander and staff • Need to again build up the trust we had • Keep contact with other institutions by way of members or directly • Involvement with the C P F • Regularly attend meetings • Obtain feedback & ideas

8. Membership driven • Aim is to obtain 80% membership of households in own community – • Higher membership will improve income potential resulting in better service. More members also possible to keep membership fees lower.

9. Membership details • Although we have some 225 members who joined by paying a deposit, this is not our current number due to various reasons: • Members getting complacent thinking crime has gone away and they are safe. • Members move • Members resign (Mostly by not advising) • Unable to recruit new members due to committee being undermanned (Volunteers)

10. Local governments • Become involved with committee members of Ward 70 of which we form part: • Rooihuiskraal-Noord, Wierdapark, Raslouw, Sunderland Ridge, Erasmia, Eldoraigne & Brakfontein • Build and maintain a relationship with them • To be accepted as a credible and important role player

11. Success • Crime is the lowest in the community compared to surrounding areas. • Difficult to obtain stats ex SAPS. • People are involved. Reporting if they see something suspicious.

12. What went wrong? • We got caught up in crime prevention • Members expected much more than what they were paying for since guards not visible enough. • Unfortunately the “invisible” guards were costing more than what the few paying members were paying! • No legal hold on members not paying • Members who had joined and no longer wanted to be members, simply stopped paying without advising the committee or giving their views

13. What have we done? • Requested a meeting with +- 7 security companies in our area • 3 companies attended i.e. Copwatch, Monitor Net & Chubb. Requested they provide us with some plans from their side as to how to increase effectiveness. • Only one gave us any commitment, namely Copwatch. • Following from this we arranged for better visibility. Guards recalled and replace by ONE permanent car • Improved current SMS system (advising about problems) with a further panic button system. (Additional cost)

14. What is required? • Decide whether we go on as W2CF. • If No, we stop the current security aspect, stop the SMS messages, stop trying to make it safe i.e. stop what we have built up. • If Yes, • Provide exclusive service to members (against non-members) • Expand value to be added (with possible add-on products) • Involve current members in recruiting of non-members where we have to increase membership to at least 250 • Request more members to join the committee or volunteer their services and then to expand the services (as per previous slides)

15. Finances • Cash Flow • Income • Membership and sponsorships (225 members joined) • Members not making regular monthly payments • Invoices not sent out monthly to cut costs. • Some members need to be reminded. Why? • Expenses • Copwatch is the main expense • General • Books have been handed to auditor for yearly auditing

16. What are the main expenses? • Copwatch contracted to provide: • Daily patrolling service to members • Consists of 1 x Patrol car during day and night • Current charge = R13 110 p.m. (incl VAT) • Suggested (Additional to our R100 p.m.) • SMS Charge R25-00 p.m.. This is to distinguish members from non-members • You also get a panic button facility on cell phone • If not part of this, call out fee off R114.00

17. Scenario

18. Crime • We all read papers and watch TV and know what is going on but do we really? • With the help of Copwatch we have been able to make a difference • Crime is something that happens when we are at our most vulnerable and we must be careful that we do not leave the backdoor of our community open by thinking it cannot happen to us any more • We get complacent since we think that as we have not been touched by crime, it will not effect me • Take action now

19. Quote “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) 

20. Any suggestions? • Voting / Stemmery Stem/Vote • Copwatch