Community Safety Annual Report 2011-2012 - Gauteng Online

Programme 3: Crime Prevention and Community Police RelationsThe aim of this programme is to promote safety in the province through the provision of education and awareness programmeson crime prevention. The programme also coordinates social crime prevention initiatives in the province, with programmes toprevent violence against women and children and to enhance victim empowerment.The Department has effected a few minor changes to the Annual Performance Plan 2011-2012 in relation to this programme.These changes were necessitated by the new priorities identified by the Executive Council in February 2010, which weresubsequently translated into the Provincial Government’s Programme of Action. The priority relating to the ‘reduction in crimesagainst women and children’, in particular, has meant that the programme needed to have a dedicated focus on sexualassault as it related to women and children. There are no changes to the budget structure of the programme.Sub-programme: Promotion of SafetyPurposeThe primary purpose of the sub-programme is to promote safety in the province through the provision of education andawareness programmes on crime prevention. The programme also coordinates the implementation of the social crimeprevention strategy in the province, with programmes to prevent violence against women and children, youth safety, schooland child safety.Strategic ObjectivesThe following are the strategic objectives relating to the sub-programme:••To establish and support youth desks;••To develop and implement the alcohol and drug abuse prevention programme;••To contribute towards the prevention of violence against women and children;••To promote school safety; and,••To mainstream and coordinate social crime prevention in government.Performance indicators and targetsThe establishment of Youth desksThe highlight of the reporting period related to the resuscitation of youth desks that were inactive for more than two yearsin areas such as Pretoria-Central, Ga-Rankuwa, Wedela, Hekpoort, and Heidelberg. Further, the Departmental interventionand the cooperation obtained from the youth desks raised a new awareness regarding youth work and participation. TheImbizo held in Germiston during the reporting period also highlighted the need to escalate youth work in the fight against crimein all policing clusters of the province. Young people led the Imbizo by making presentations and participating in commissionswith a view to developing programmes that would deal with youth challenges. The topics discussed ranged from youngwomen leaders; substance abuse; youth in conflict with the law; and, youth participation at local level. The Departmentwas also able to get 20 members of the Cluster Youth Crime Prevention Executive Committees to a provincial adoptivemeeting, the purpose of which was to plan towards a provincial elective conference, which will take place during the firstquarter of the 2012/2013 financial year. The Hammanskraal youth intervention programme was a resounding success.This programme got young people from the Temba cluster involvement and it was followed by a march by the Local DrugAction committee from Tshwane.1. Alcohol and drug abuse prevention programmeCorrectional service toursThe tours consist of learners from identified schools within the province embarking on a journey of prison life through aninteraction with inmates who share their real life testimonies. These are male and female offenders currently serving sentencesmainly through drug addiction and drug trafficking. They share their own stories, displaying how small habits graduate toaddiction. Their sentences range from 10 years to life imprisonment. A total of 416 visits to Correctional Centers, whichinvolved over 18000 learners and youth desk members, were carried out during the reporting period. These tours wereheld in the following Correctional Centres:••Johannesburg Correctional Centre (Meredale);••Leeuwkop Correctional Centre (Sunninghill);••Pretoria Correctional Centre (Tshwane);Programme 3: Crime Prevention and Community Police Relations • Annual Report 2011/12 |49