Peace Corps visible in green uniform
Those men and women in green are there to observe and assist the EMPD.
Joyce Mariri from Slovo Park is proud to be part of the 1010 Peace Corps Volunteer Joyce Mariri from Slovo Park is proud to be part of the 1010 Peace Corps Volunteer Project.
She feels they are helping community by taking the strain of EMPD officials during peak traffic.
“We are deployed at different intersections between 6.45am and 8am and from 1.30pm to 3pm to assist the children to cross the street safely,” says Joyce.
Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) spokesman Wilfred Kgasago says this mayoral project was initiated two years ago.
In a statement received from the EMPD Kgasago states “Its members serve as the eyes and ears of the law enforcers since they will be serving within the communities they live in.”
The men and women in the green uniform will assist in the city’s crime prevention, bylaw enforcement and social crime prevention efforts.
The Peace Corps members will be assisting in reporting service delivery hiccups like power outages and water and sewer pipe bursts as and when they get exposed to such.
Peace Corps, hosted under the EMPD enrolled at the EMPD training academy and receive basic training that will equip them for their duties.
Kgasago says exactly 10 young people from each of the 101 wards in the metro, through the coordination of ward committees, have been absorbed into the programme.
“A number of volunteer Peace Corps started duty last year after the programme was launched in Daveyton.”
The number of Peace Corps in the metro will rise to 1010 after the full roll-out.
Their duties include patrolling the streets, conducting by-laws education and enforcement, traffic control duties and engage in social crime prevention.
“The enlisted young people will be accorded peace officer status so that they are legally empowered to make the necessary interventions under strict command of EMPD.”
“The programme is aimed at getting unemployed youth in Ekurhuleni involved in the fight against crime, and at the same time, empower them with skills, create employment and thus reduce the rate of poverty,” says Kgasago.
