Prudence Mabasa is the public relations officer for the Sector Three Brakpan CPF. The 26-year-old lives in Brenthurst and has been involved with the local CPF for 11 months.
• What made you join the CPF?
The Local Drug Action Committee introduced me to it, but my love for community upliftment was the reason.
• Why is the CPF important in the fight against crime?
Because we as a community, trained or not, are the first responders at a crime scene.
What affects our community eventually affects us and turning a blind eye is the reason crime thrives.
If we as a community do nothing about crime, that in itself is supporting crime.
The CPF is a proactive way of combating crime in our community.
It trains in how to correctly approach a scene and report a crime.
• What do you think is the solution to South Africa’s crime problem?
There are two major facets from what I have observed: one is the prevention and the other is justice.
There are plenty of socio-economic problems that drive people to commit and not report crime. In empowering the community, these issues are prevented.
In justice stands the redundant issue of corruption.
If we solve that, justice can and will be served.
• What is your occupation?
I am a volunteer, a youth coordinator at the Assembly of God Fellowship Brakpan Church and a Victim Empowerment Centre volunteer at the Brakpan Police Station.
• Do you have any hobbies or special interests?
Anything that has to do with literature and the creative arts.
• If you had the power to solve one and only one problem in the world, what would it be and why?
Violence against women and children.
A lot of criminals have been abused as children and thereby the cycle continues, “hurt people, hurt people”.
By breaking the cycle, perhaps we would see men being present fathers and daughters being empowered in who they are, that they won’t submit to abuse because of dependency.
Perhaps people wouldn’t repeat the sexual offence that was done to them and maybe there wouldn’t be so much brokenness in families.
• What motivates you?
God’s love.
• How would you describe yourself?
Crazy, weird, passionate, resilient and creative.
• What do you see as the greatest strength of this community?
There is never a shortage of places that can be helped.
It is hard to go hungry in this town unless you are new in the area.
Help is found in every suburb of Brakpan.
• What is your greatest concern for this community? What do you see as its greatest needs?
It’s hard to choose between the lack of unity in diversity, economic empowerment and drugs.
This community needs true reconciliation to take place, to love beyond our differences, to have mutual respect and knowledge of ethnicity.
It needs to break the mentality of poverty, hand-to-mouth mentality, children dropping out of schools because they don’t see the value of education or the need to empower themselves with skills to not just be workers but employers.
This community needs a breakthrough when it comes to drugs – it cannot be ignored and tolerated.
We can’t grow when we see selling drugs as just another business. It is a parasite eating at the future of this town and the humanity of the sellers.
We need to take responsibility for this town and all who live in it.
The safety of my neighbour is also my concern. The safety of my schoolmate is my concern.
We need to learn to be one another’s keeper.
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