Mthatha - The Eastern Cape Department of Transport and Safety has launched a Village Committee to help fight crime in the deep rural areas of the province.
Launching the committee on Wednesday in Mount Ayliff, MEC Ghishma Barry said the committee was made up of a combination of dedicated people from the communities.
"The Village Committee is a broader coalition of traditional leaders, the youth, teachers, parents, the Community Policing Forum (CPF), the police and all those who are dedicated to making the area a safer place," he said.
He said one of the key areas of the provincial crime prevention strategy was to strengthen the communities fight against crime.
"In realising this key focus area, we have established the Village Committees to work in small areas of our communities.
"We have decided to launch this Village Committees Programme in Mount Ayliff because it is mostly rural and vast, but serviced by one police station, which is based in town," he said.
While the CPFs are mainly situated at police stations, he said the Village Committees will be placed at the locality level in small areas to make the environment safer through doing patrols and neighbourhood watch working together with the police.
The objectives of the programme are to promote pro-activeness in the fight against crime; ensure the active involvement and participation of youth and community at large in crime prevention initiatives; promote neighbourhood watch.
The committee will help minimise the challenges that continue to confront police stations, especially in rural areas.
"I strongly believe that working together we can defeat crime and reposition the Eastern Cape to become a compelling place to live, work, invest and play in," the MEC said.
