Cape Town CPF Board signs new constitution

Milnerton police last week hosted a group of crime fighters and police who signed the enforcement of the new constitution for community policing forums (CPFs) and boards in the province.

The signing event was attended by Provincial CPF Board chairperson, Fransina Lukas, Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen, and provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile.

Brooklyn resident, Justin Kumlehn, the Provincial CPF Board spokesman, said despite the many challenges and delays, dating back to 2017, they (the CPF board) worked to change the constitution to align the organisation with the changes in police structures.

He added that in the past each police station was grouped into a cluster, and the CPF committees were structured in the same way, but with the changes from clusters to districts, more stations were grouped together.

The amended constitution is a natural improvement from the previous constitution, and said that the changes are set out to strengthen the code of conduct and to introduce mechanisms to deal with members that have political aspirations, and to improve voting processes within the CPF.

Another change he said, is to improve service delivery to the residents of the Western Cape.

Mr Kumlehn said amendments were made to the Community Safety Plan, and its vetting process.

“The changes will allow better communication and smoother working relationships between all crime fighters, which will ultimately benefit the community,” said Mr Kumlehn.

He added that there are about 151 CPFs – one CPF per police station – and that their sole purpose is to contribute to the communication process between the communities and police, including crime-fighting social intervention to assist communities.

He said the main concern for CPFs is the lack of resources, especially at station level, as it interferes with the way a CPF should function.

“There is also the lack of regulatory framework for neighbourhood structures and the continuous safety threat towards CPFs and neighbourhood watch members,” he said.

Mr Allen said the signing of the constitution called for a greater collaboration between all law-enforcement agencies. “This is to bring about a service that suits the needs of our residents.”

Milnerton CPF secretary, Theresha Hanekom, welcomed the constitution and said “it is the work of much consultation over many years.”

She added that the CPF team faces a number of challenges; community cohesion is lacking and community participation is limited.

“Milnerton is a hot spot for human trafficking which needs more dedicated and integrated efforts.

“It is welcomed that CPFs are now compelled to have safety plans but these will only succeed with active co-operation of all law-enforcement agencies and community organisations and members. Milnerton police station is a brigadier station and the post is vacant and needs to be filled as a matter of urgency,” said Ms Hanekom.

Other CPFs in Tabletalk’s distribution area did not respond to our questions last week.