Nkosi-Malobane said crime affects all, irrespective of culture, socio-economics, or religious belief. She said, “The adverse effects remain excruciating, whether affected directly or indirectly and, therefore, warrant collective efforts by all citizenry to roll up their sleeves in the fight against crime.”
Nkosi- Malobane announced that there will be a re-launch of the Take Charge campaign in July which will be used as the vehicle to communicate the provincial safety strategy and mobilise communities to become safety ambassadors in all communities of Gauteng through the following sub-campaigns: Anti- bribery campaign, substance abuse campaign, especially nyaope, public transport road worthiness and pedestrian safety campaign.
She said her department identified itself as the catalyst for the social movement and not as the actual driving force behind the movement.
Nkosi-Malobane said, “This serves as a call to action on all residents of Gauteng to [participate] in the fight against crime. This included community-based crime fighting initiatives that communities will own and sustain.” She added that in 2006, her department developed a Gauteng Safety Strategy and a Road Safety Strategy from 2006 to 2014.
Nkosi-Malobane said one key pillar of the strategy, community participation, was aimed at providing a coherent framework that would guide public, private and civil-society organisations towards developing their own sector and grassroots safety programmes to complement the work of law enforcement agencies in the province.
“This resulted in the launch of the Take Charge campaign in 2007, a communication campaign for both strategies at Walter Sisulu Square of Memorial in Kliptown, and subsequently the birth of community sectors such as faith-based organisations, patroller movements, youth desks, know your neighborhood campaigns, izinduna, scholar patrol and men as safety programmes,” she stated.
Nkosi-Malobane said these sectors managed to ensure that the strategies resonate in communities through soliciting the necessary collaboration and support in the fight against crime. She said the department is convinced that there is greater social cohesion and creates a social movement against crime.
