Today, the MEC of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, welcomes the progress being made in the establishment of Area-Based Teams (ABTs) in communities. This comes on the back of a workshop which the Department of Community Safety held on Friday, 27 August 2021.

The workshop was organized together with the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) which provides support and processes facilitation services in relation to the establishment of the ABTs as led by Department of Community Safety.

The ABT is a methodology that aims at ensuring the Safety Plan is implemented at a local level according to the key principle of collective impact.  Stakeholders include government departments, NGOs in the area, members of the religious fraternity, community members and others.

ABTs are being set up in specific areas identified in the Safety Plan, and include Atlantis, Bishop Lavis, Deflt, Khayelitsha, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Harare, Gugulethu and Philippi (Hanover Park) in the Metro; as well as the five district municipalities being the Central Karoo, the Garden Route, Cape Winelands, the West Coast and the Overberg.

The purpose of the ABT Workshop was to ensure that all 16 liaison officers have a common understanding of the ABT methodology and approach, to identify their capacity and support needs, and to put in place a programme to speed up the establishment of the 16 ABTs across the province.

MEC Fritz said, “we are very pleased that the ABTs are taking root in our communities. We are convinced that it is going to change the way in which safety is both perceived and experienced in our communities.  Above all, it will ensure that all stakeholders, including citizens, communities, government and others pull together in the same direction in order to maximise impact.”

At the feedback session this morning, Liaison Officers in attendance were upbeat and positive about the workshop outcomes and indicated a readiness to move rapidly on establishing the ABTs.

MEC Fritz concluded, “we look forward to continuing the rooting of our ABTs in our communities. I want to express my sincere appreciation to the staff of the Department of Community Safety, other Western Cape Government departments and other stakeholders in our communities who have internalized the ABT methodology and who are working towards its implementation. We are busy with big things. We are changing our society for the better, thereby ensuring a safer Western Cape for all our citizens.”

Source: Government of South Africa