Tzaneen CPF gives festive safety tips

This included handing out pamphlets with safety tips as well as goodie bags at Minitzani in Boundary Street.
Uwe Kröh from the CPF recommends the following safety precautions for the festive season.

• Test all zones of your alarm system.
• Put lights outside the house on a timer and consider putting lights inside the house on a timer to give the impression that someone is home.
• Be careful about the information you post on social media.
• Ask neighbours to keep an eye on things

• Make sure all windows, doors and security gates are locked before you leave the house.
• Keep an eye out for suspicious people roaming in the neighbourhood and report them to your community watch if their behaviour concerns you.
• Large dogs serve as a deterrent and one dog should be trained to sleep in the house.
• Ensure that tools like axes, spades, picks and ladders that could be used by criminals are locked away when not in use.

Also read: All parents should know these practical child safety tips

• Do not leave items visibly lying around in your car, rather lock items in the boot of the vehicle.
• Take extreme care when using an ATM to withdraw cash.
• Try not to expose valuables such as cash, credit cards, cameras or valuable shopping purchases.
• Know your neighbours and plan how you will resond in a crisis together.

• Become involved in your neighbourhood watch and local CPF.
• Do not go outside if you suspect intruders are on your property. Contact your neighbours and the police and ask those who are trained to come and determine of there is reason for concern.
• Do not let people inside your home (for example to use the phone or bathroom).
• Make your house ‘hard’. This means making your house seem difficult to break in to. If the burglar perceives it as difficult to enter, chances are that they will try somewhere else.

• Trust your instincts. If something feels wrong, something is probably wrong.
• Lock your vehicle when leaving it for any amount of time.
• Do not use your cellphone to chat or make calls in traffic (passengers included) to avoid attracting opportunistic smash-and-grab criminals, who can break your window and steal your phone.

“All of you know how much needs to be done to take meaningful steps to end domestic violence and sexual assault.
“We need tough law-enforcement, aggressive prosecutions, effective prevention programmes and shelters for families in distress.

“Most importantly, we need to ensure that more people know and understand that domestic violence is not a private matter.
“It is a critical national problem that affects us all, in every community, every workplace and every school,” says Kröh.

Emergency numbers:

SAPS community service centre- 079 890 2424
Distric operational command centre – 015 306 2208
Tzaneen neighbourhood watch (whatsapp) – 083 230 8311
Northern Security- 015 307 1529
K9 Security- 063 964 6747
Large Security – 079 431 5216
Letaba Security – 015 307 1529
TEMS ambulance- 083 641 7406
ER 24- 079 306 0666
Trauma counsellor – 072 490 2368