CGBS Protections, a security company, is set to formalise the Alexandra community patrollers in the service provision of anti-hijacking, anti-human trafficking, anti-business robberies and VIP escorts for skills development and training for the Alexandra community.
In helping the government on issues of a high unemployment rate and crime they simultaneously comply with the laws of this country.
“We are tapping into security services and the agenda for today was the introduction to our leadership, especially as we are trying to formalise the community patrollers from Alex, ” Clement Thipe, co-owner of CGBS Protections said.
“They need to be regulated in terms of the laws of this country. They also need to be skilled and trained in terms of how to tactically approach different sides of crimes. So, at the moment we have about 50 of the first intakes, which started about two weeks ago.
“They are finishing the course soon and they will be on-site to start working. There will be another intake, which will start on September 4. They will be trained for three weeks after which they will be ready for the tactical unit. That is the team that will be doing the anti-hijacking, anti-robberies and all of the serious and violent crimes here in Alex.”
According to Thipe, they took some of the patrollers who were already patrolling and added more from Setswetla, Riverpark and avenues 20, 21 and 22. He added that they intend to take patrollers from all over Alex to make up the team of 50 to start training on September 4.
Touching on the recent incidents where patrollers are being attacked Thipe said, “We are trying to equip patrollers in terms of the tactical knowledge on how to approach serious situations like that. We want to minimise the numbers of casualties and being attacked because now they approach people who are armed with guns, and they don’t have guns, they only have sjamboks.
“Remember they are going for tactical training where they will be taught about the usage of weapons like handguns and rifles. When they come back they will be equipped with vehicles – they will be driving Golf 7s, BMWs and also your double-cabs for incidents where the small cars don’t have access to the area.”
One of the trainee patrollers, Elisa Ngobeni, expressed her concerns about the recent incidents of patrollers being targeted and said that this training will give them some sort of security.
“The way they shot and killed our fellow patrollers in Ext 8 did not sit well with me. I am a patroller from Riverpark, but I was worried and shocked on why this is happening. As patrollers we are being chased from all sides; some people want to see us dead while our only mandate is to serve the community and protect them from crime. We should be one community that protect people. Therefore, this training will give us the confidence and safety that we need to chase criminals and hand them over to the police.”
Riverpark patroller Matshidiso Pitso added, “This training will help us more in protecting our community as Alex is a playground for crime. As patrollers we want to formalise everything so that everything happens according to the law. We will get trained on how to handle situations, protect and serve the community as patrollers and also how to handle suspects. What we want more than anything is for Alexandra to be a safe community and go back to how it was before.”
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