Dear Alberton Record,
Hereby the comments of the Alberton CPF regarding the above-mentioned article, Prominent Figures arrested for attacks on homeless, of 02 September 2016.
The Alberton CPF wish to assure the community of Alberton that we treat all people with dignity and respect and that we do not and will not tolerate any vigilantly behaviours from from either our CPF Patrollers or any member of the public. The Alberton CPF Patrollers all signed a Code of Conduct as is prescribed in terms of the Constitution of the Gauteng Community Police Board, established in terms of Chapter 7 of the South African Police Service Act, Act 68 of 1995, as amended. All CPF Patrollers are obliged to receive training in the principles of patrolling and were also attending an induction course. All CPF Patrollers undergo a security clearance, which is carried out by the Local Criminal Records Centre. If they receive clearance, they are allowed to start duty as patrollers. They must carry an CPF Identity Card with their photographs, to identify them as CPF Patrollers and which must be visible at all times to any members of the public or SAPS Officers.
The article about the attacks on the homeless as stated in your article of 2 September 2016 came as a surprise to the Alberton CPF once again, as a similar article surfaced in the press during August 2015 whereby the Alberton CPF, Security Companies, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police members as well as Alberton SAPS members were accused of attacks on the homeless.
We are not aware of any active CPF Patrollers from Alberton CPF that were arrested as stated in the article. We are of the opinion that information that the Alberton CPF supplied to the Alberton SAPS regarding drug dealings and drug abuse by certain homeless people and which then lead to the arrest of these people, caused that the CPF Patrollers were accused of attacks on them.
The Alberton CPF is also involved with the Living Conditions Forum in Alberton as well as other stakeholders like Ligstad, Ward Councillors, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department, Alberton SAPS and many others in fighting against crime in our community. The Alberton CPF cannot act in isolation and is to adhere to all legislation in this regard. We have to abide by a CPF Constitution, enacted in terms of the South African Police Act. We are all working together to assist and find solutions regarding the homeless and other criminal related matters – we are not there to assault anyone.
Our request is that all allegations made against the Alberton CPF be reported to us as well as the Alberton SAPS, and that factual evidence be given. We further urged that all allegations made against the Alberton CPF, be thoroughly investigated before the allegations are published.
It seems once again that some people/pseudo-organisations are trying to degrade the excellent work done by the Alberton CPF, in making Alberton a better place to live.
 Alberton CPF Executive Committee
