CPF meeting sparks community quarrel
Tempers flared at a general meeting held by the Hillcrest CPF after community members were denied entry.
UPPER Highway residents were outraged when they were denied entry to a meeting held by the Hillcrest community policing forum (CPF) at the Hillcrest Library Hall on Wednesday 23 October.
According to Councillor Tex Collins, of ward 9, the Hillcrest CPF committee has been operating illegally since an AGM held in April.
“The April AGM was deemed by the province liaison to be null and void because, in their opinion, the meeting was not representative of the broader community. This is patently untrue because the constitution of the CPF specifically states that membership of the CPF is open to all who live in the area controlled by the Hillcrest SAPS. If community members choose not to attend CPF meetings that is entirely their prerogative and the rest of the community cannot beheld to ransom by those who do not attend,” said Collins.
Collins also alleged that the CPF has been operating without a constitution.
“The meeting called on Wednesday is a case in point as the interim chair Monica Bruuyn declared that it was a ‘closed meeting’, which is contrary to any CPF constitution. She also stated that at the meeting a new executive was to be elected. This meeting billed as a Special General Meeting to elect the new executive was completely ultra vires in that the election of office bearers can only be done at an Annual General Meeting, which was held in April,” said Collins.
Councillor Rick Crouch, of ward 10, supported Collin’s dispute, and stated that all CPF meetings, except executive meetings, should be open to the public.
“It is a community forum and the community should therefore be allowed to be involved at every step. At the very least the public should have been allowed to be observers at this meeting. I believe in transparency,” said Crouch.
Gerhard Pretorius, who was elected as the chairman of the CPF in April, also reported that the committee elected in April was simply not recognised by the Hillcrest SAPS and the department of safety and liaison, as he and the other members were often not invited to meetings.
“The current CPF did not follow the constitution. If they felt that the committee elected in April was illegal they should have called a vote-of-no-confidence, and then arranged for a new AGM to be held within 30 days so that a new committee could be elected,” said Pretorius.
According to Pretorius the CPF was created to facilitate dialogue between the SAPS and the community so issues and reports regarding the SAPS could be investigated by an outside authority.
“The danger comes when a committee voted in by the public is simply dismissed and taken over by members who were not elected by the public. I believe that there are hidden motives behind this decision. By not following the constitution the CPF fell apart. The only way that the CPF can be salvaged at this point is to start from scratch,” said Pretorius.
After considerable protest from community members the Hillcrest CPF committee decided to postpone the meeting until 27 November, and has urged residents to form their respective sub forums with the help of the Hillcrest SAPS.
According to Debbie Viviers, the chairman for the Waterfall 2 sub forum, the Hillcrest CPF was not operating effectively and the representation of the community was poor. The CPF committee decided to encourage the community to create sub forums and to select a representative for each sub forum, which would break down the area and make it more manageable. The representatives of the sub forums were invited to vote on behalf of their sub forums at the meeting held on Wednesday.
“I believe that most of the people who are causing a stink at the meeting are those who did not attend the monthly meetings. If they had attended they would have known what the procedures were and what the meeting was all about,” said Viviers.
Khaladi Mbongwe, senior manager of the Department of community safety and liaison, confirmed at the meeting that the committee elected in April was rejected due to the fact that the meeting was not represented by the entire community.
“I am happy and excited to see that so many members of the public have become involved, but they must understand that they have to form sub forums and that only representatives are allowed to vote. The cut-off date for sub forum submissions is 15 November,” said Mbongwe.
