With the common enemy in mind, members the Langa Safety Patrol (LSP) welcomed their counterparts from Zwelethemba in Worcester on Saturday 25 June to discuss ways to curb crime.
The meeting was held at a local crèche in Zone 9 in Langa.
The two teams shared ideas and knowledge on ways to mitigate crime.
LSP has received a lot of praise since its inception and according to Nkululeko Mangweni, chair of the Zwelethemba neighbourhood watch, they use LSP as their benchmark. He labelled LSP as a well recognised structure in the City.
“We wanted to know about the tactics they are utilising to ensure that their organisation is operational. We established our neighbourhood watch in February this year and we are still struggling on how to conduct ourselves during the patrols,” said Mangweni.
Among other things, he said they learnt that LSP members did not patrol daily, but relied on intelligence and information from the “watchers”.
According to him, crime is not high in the area, but they plan to manage it now to prevent it from spiralling out of control.
“Zwelethemba is too small. It’s hard to get car hijacking or hear gunshots. But with the influence of the neighbouring areas, I see that is going to be a problem. Most of the things that are happening are pickpocketing, stabbing, house break-ins,” he stated.
LSP chair Bandile Gcuwa described the sessions as educational. He said they were humbled by the request from their Zwelethemba counterparts.
Gcuwa, who didn’t want to divulge their working strategy, said they shared valuable information with the Zwelethemba group.
“Their neighbourhood watch is still new, so they needed the tricks on how to conduct patrols. We were also able to advise them to work closely with other community stakeholders, particularly the police as they do similar jobs to keep peace in the community,” he stated.
Gcuwa said since the neighbourhood watch was established in Langa the level of crime has decreased drastically.
Explaining how they catch criminals in the area, Gcuwa said Langa is quite small and they know almost all the criminals in the area.
“When we hear that a robbery has happened in a certain area we know exactly where to start. We know some of the criminals or thieves,” he said.