Police conduct a successful school safety campaign at Laerskool Dr Havinga
"We also wanted to build and regain the trust of the community in Roodepoort, and in Gauteng as a whole."
Thursday, May 26 saw Laerskool Dr Havinga’s sports field buzzing with activity as their learners were entertained and educated about school safety and other issues of importance.
A safe schools talk, demonstrations and edutainment by members of various South African Police Service (SAPS) units such as the Search and Rescue team, Mounted Unit, Divers and the K9 unit kept the learners on their toes.
According to the organisers the campaign aims to increase learners’ level of awareness on various serious topics to ultimately ensure all children are safe and feel safe within the school environment.
Members of various SAPS units such as the Search and Rescue team, Mounted Unit, Divers and the K9 unit entertained the learners with various demonstrations.
Present on the day was Colonel Paulus van Eeden from the Office of the Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner who told the Record that they visited the school as part of a school safety and community awareness programme to ensure the learners’ safety.
“We have the police here with the emergency services and private security companies to educate the learners about safety. Water safety, safety when in a car accident, bullying, drugs and all sorts of things that will benefit and help the community were discussed. We also wanted to build and regain the trust of the community in Roodepoort, and in Gauteng as a whole,” said Van Eeden.
Ward 71 councillor Rene Benjamin reminded the community that the following week is Safety Week, and the schools will be writing exams by then.
“We have managed to get the SAPS Head Office and local security forces as well as emergency units to join forces and do a safety talk to our children. It is very important that we advise our young children about safety measures, be it swimming or travelling safely in a vehicle; but also to get them to realise that our officers and security people are their friends and can be approached. We normally see these people in vehicles and that is all they are, so we wanted to bring them close to the children and build a relationship with them,” René said.
