Ill health force Sector 3 chairperson to retire
STRUBENS VALLEY – Sector 3 Chairperson steps down from post because of ill health.
Ill health has forced Sector 3 chairperson to step down from his position. Daniel Smith, who held the position for more than two years, said it was a tough decision to make, but he finally decided to put his health first. “For now I want to take it easy and concentrate on getting better,” he said.
Smith’s health took a knock last year, leaving him hospitalised for a number of days.
He shares that he enjoyed every moment of being part of the Honeydew Community Policing Forum (CPF) and also the chairperson for his sector. “It’s been a very great journey,” said Smith.
The former chairperson admits that his position was no child’s play, as it came with a great deal of responsibilities. “I had to attend the general CPF monthly meeting, the executive CPF meeting, security companies’ forum meetings, as well as weekly security meeting with the police,” explained Smith.
Over and above this, he had to attend to late-night calls from residents, including at times things that were not policing related.
The greatest highlight for him was the interaction and engagements that he had with community members. On a disappointing note, Smith said he was concerned about community turnout at meetings. “At our last meeting, we only had five members of the community.”
He added that what he noted mostly, is that once a person is a crime victim, it is only then that they start making contact and trying to get involved.
Though he has resigned from his position as the chairperson, Smith said he will still be attending community meetings as he is still part of the Sector 3 community. Apart from that, he will keep himself busy with his crossword puzzles and he boastingly shares that he has created his own dictionary which has over 100 pages of phrases and words.
In conclusion, he expressed his sincere thanks for the support that he had received from the public, his two deputy chairmen, previous secretaries, Charlene Barnfield, who has acted as secretary, Captain André Lamprecht and Sergeant Molly Ramukosi, Councillor Jaco Engelbrecht and Carmel Wassman of the CPF office.
