Yesterday, the Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, opened the two-day workshop hosted by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, in Cape Town, where he engaged with members of the Bavarian Police on best practice in regional safety interventions.
The workshop will address safety in the province by outlining the challenges and opportunities in collecting, analysing, and acting on safety-related data in the ten priority areas where (and when) violence is most likely to occur. The workshop further aims to facilitate institutional cooperation in each of the ten ‘hotspot’ areas affected by crime, as well as more broadly across the Province.
Key partnering organisations present were the South African Police Service, the Institute for Security Studies, Western Cape Police Ombudsman, the Civilian Secretariat, City of Cape Town and National Prosecuting Authority. Please see photos attached.
Minister Fritz said, “The Hanns Seidel Foundation’s involvement in the two-day workshop comes as a result of a long-standing regional partnership between the Free State of Bavaria and the province of the Western Cape. The workshop presents an opportunity for collaboration, particularly in the realm of community policing. Bavaria has a strong record in this regard and will aid the Province through the Hanns Seidel Foundation’s presence.”
“Unlike the Western Cape Government, the Free State of Bavaria which is a federal state of Germany [or province as it is known in South Africa] has its own police force and an impressive track-record in reducing crime. Building trust and relationships with communities and using data and evidence to inform deployment are some of the key elements of their approach. For this reason, I am confident they will provide valuable input throughout the course of this workshop,” said Minister Fritz.
Minister Fritz said, “The workshop offered an opportunity to exchange lessons and develop recommendations on how to work Better Together to meaningfully address violent crime in the Western Cape. Discussions focused on lessons learnt from the Whole-of-Society-Approach (WoSA) collaboration model in Khayelitsha.
Additionally, there was a focus on:
- The police and law enforcement using different data sources and evidence to inform operational decisions and reduce violence;
- An analysis of the strategic deployment of law enforcement officers by the City of Cape Town; and
- A focus on mapping the way forward to strengthen institutional cooperation.”
Minister Fritz added, “In attendance were senior ranking Bavarian Police officials, Mr Wolfgang Sommer, Mr Günter Okon and Mr Bernhard Egger. It is my hope that our Bavarian counterparts will provide valuable input on safety in the province throughout the course of the workshop.”
