April 19, 2005
By Anish Abraham
JOHANNESBURG is putting in place the tools to run its City Safety Strategy to combat crime and grime and create an investor-friendly environment. The strategy was approved by the council in August 2004.
"We needed a strategy to deal with safety and security issues as part of our 2030 strategy," says Nazira Cachalia, the programme manager in the City's economic development unit (EDU), which drew up the safety strategy. "We found that these were of the utmost concern to the city's residents."
Joburg 2030 sets out the economic development trajectory for the City over the next 25 years, giving particular prominence to smart industries.
Since the implementation of the National Crime Prevention Strategy in 1996, Johannesburg has undertaken several programmes and initiatives to enhance crime prevention at a local level.
Now these various initiatives are to be drawn together. The City Safety Strategy brings together the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), councillors involved with safety and security, and Joburg's utilities, agencies and corporatised entities (UACs).
"The strategy deals with the concerns of the various stakeholders, as well as sets out their responsibilities," Cachalia says.
Similar policies from around the world were studied when the plan was drafted, including that instituted by eThekwini Metro (greater Durban), which was the first metro in South Africa to adopt a safer city strategy. It was also developed in line with the priorities of the South African Police Service (SAPS), Cachalia says. "We have to work in synergy to achieve the same objective."
All operations by the Metro Police, whether joint or solely, are guided by the document. The JMPD, which leads the implementation of the strategy, regularly conducts joint operations with the SAPS or the UACs. The plan is applied to cases individually by the City Safety Strategy Joint Operations Committee, which meets every six weeks to plan and review operations.
The strategy ensures that problems are analysed thoroughly and possible solutions are discussed before they are confronted. "We need to understand the problem - why it exists, what are the causes and the consequences," Cachalia says.
The unit is housed at the JMPD headquarters in Martindale, in the office of Councillor Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, the mayoral committee member for public safety. A part of the EDU's budget has been set aside to run the unit.
Through creating an orderly environment, the City aims to win the confidence of its residents. Plans include recovering guns used in crimes, creating gun-free zones, tackling organised crime that drives street crime or targets businesses, and keeping young people away from criminal activity.
Specific areas will be targeted and the City Safety Strategy will rely on initiatives like the Inner City Regeneration Task Force, which runs the Better Buildings Programme. It works on a geographically focused approach, which is based on consolidating crime reduction efforts in a small number of target areas and gradually widening the boundaries of each area, particular along arterial routes, until the geographic focus areas overlap, without the rapid withdrawal of extra capacity.
"We have to deal with problems in a sustainable manner and then consolidate our position before moving on," Cachalia explains.
Co-operation with the Louis Botha Business Improvement District to enhance safety and security along the busy road's route through Orange Grove is just one example of the strategy at work. The area could easily fall victim to urban decay, but with intervention and incentive it could flourish and become a vibrant part of the city.
Apart from Orange Grove, the unit has also facilitated joint operations in Moroka, in Soweto, in parts of the inner city, and in parts of the greater Ellis Park precinct.
"The real challenge is to get commitment from all the stakeholders. We need the support of all Johannesburg's residents as well as the business community," Cachalia says.
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