#YourStory – Meet Mosesi, an activist at heart
"There is a lot of talk on social media and very seldom do people actually get up and do something about the issues they complain about."
The new Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson for Sebenza has youth programmes and partnerships with community stakeholders at the top of his priority list to tackle crime in the area.
Mr Andrew Mosesi, who has been at the helm of the Sebenza CPF since June 2015, said he wants to improve the area and is determined to fight crime.
That is why he took up his new role. Mr Mosesi grew up and finished school in Tembisa before he joined the banking industry.
He worked in the banking industry for a while before he moved to other industries in government, retail and the insurance industry.
In 2011 and 2012, he was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Atlie FC, a Benoni-based first division soccer club.
He also served on the board of directors in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) where he represented the team. He then moved to government, where he worked in the Department of Science and Technology until December 2014.
Mr Mosesi said taking up the new position as the CPF chairman was not a hard decision for him as he has always been involved in the community.
He joined the CPF because he realised that there is a lot of talk on social media and people are always vocal about issues that are wrong in society, but very few act on it or do something to change the situation.
“There is a lot of talk on social media and very seldom do people actually get up and do something about the issues they complain about. I wanted to be counted as one of the people who are doing something positive in the community,”said Mr Mosesi.
From a young age, he was always involved with human rights issues. While in high school, he was actively involved in student politics. He was the SRC president in high school and also joined the student movement Congress of South African Students (COSAS).
“I can say I am an activist at heart because I am very passionate about human rights issues,” he said.
He said he didn’t know much about the Sebenza CPF and he had to look for it.
“To be honest, I didn’t know anything about the Sebenza CPF so I can say I came out to look for it. Even though I was not involved, I was aware of the problems in the area. That is when I came to the station and told them I was a resident in the area and asked if they had a CPF,” said Mr Mosesi.
With his background in government, he was aware of the issues faced by the community and understood how local government and municipalities work. He said he realised the SCPF would be the right platform for him to get involved in community work.
“There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the community and we want the community to know about the CPF and attend our meetings so they are aware of what is happening in their community. We have started already by putting together a youth desk.
“We want to have sports teams under the banner of the CPF. We hope to start a soccer tournament that will be held on the first week of December this year. We plan to make this an annual event,” he said.
He said they understand that it is not easy to reach everyone and not everyone is able to attend the SCPF meetings.
“That is why we have come up with a plan to break down the areas and we will have sub-forums that will have their own committees. We have started with patrols in other areas and have been getting inquiries from community members who want to join the CPF. We also have five WhatsApp groups and those are broken down into areas, so if someone stays in a certain area, we will add them in the relevant group. In these groups, not only do we discuss CPF issues but people are able to report any issues including suspicious activities they notice in their neighborhoods,” said Mr Mosesi.
Mr Mosesi called for the members of the community to work with the CPF as the forums need professionals who can volunteer their services.
“We would like professionals such as lawyers, doctors, psychologists and nurses to work with the police and help the victims in anyway they can,” he said.
They have also partnered with businesses in the area and are involved in their outreach programmes. They are working on installing CCTV cameras at entry and exit points of the areas in order to combat crime. “We want to install cameras in our areas because criminals use these exit points to escape after they commit the crimes. That will be possible only with the help of businesses in the area, therefore it is important for them to come on board and work with the CPF,” said Mr Mosesi.
With the festive season around the corner, he advised the community to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings.
He reminded residents it is important to know their neighbours and strongly advised them to have street WhatsApp groups where they can communicate with each other.
“People don’t know their neighbours and when they see someone, they cannot tell whether the person lives in the area or not. We want to have know your neighbour campaigns. Because people don’t know their neighbours, they see a truck in their neighbour’s yard and think they are moving out. When the police interview the neighbours, they will say yes we saw the truck and we thought they were moving. It is important for people to know their neighbours and people who live in their streets. You find some houses at 10 at night and the gates are wide open and cars are parked outside. Most of the times, criminals don’t have information but they find a vulnerable house and take advantage,” said Mr Mosesi.
He urged the community to be careful when they pick up people from the street to work in their homes.
“Whether a gardener or helper, people must take a photograph and send to a friend or family member and let them know that there is someone working in their home. Should something happen they can say this is the person who was working there. People pick up strangers in the street to do some work around their homes and sometimes these people commit crimes and they vanish and police don’t have much information to work with. He also encouraged the public to be active citizens and be involved because there will never be a solution to crime if the community is not involved.
The Sebenza CPF is also on Facebook at Sebenza Community Policing Forum and they have a website www.sebenzacpf.co.za.
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