Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has partnered 40 neighbourhood watch volunteers with the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) to assist during the coronavirus lockdown period.
Alderman JP Smith, a member of the mayoral committee for safety and security, conducted the handover on Thursday.
The neighbourhood watch members come from areas such as Harare, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Montana and Bishop Lavis.
Smith said this would boost the City of Cape Town’s capacity to help communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The City turned to neighbourhood watches at the start of the national lockdown to increase volunteer boots on the ground, as they were prevented from conducting their regular duties.
“So far, we have had well in excess of 400 new volunteers who, since their training and deployment, have lent crucial support to the City’s Covid-19 efforts, by helping to maintain social distancing at shops, public transport interchanges, clinics and hospitals, feeding schemes and other places where people have had to congregate,” Smith said.
Smith said a special relationship has always been upheld between neighbourhood watches and the City of Cape Town.
“This has once again come to the fore, with so many heeding our call to volunteer their services,” Smith said.
He also conveyed his condolences to the family of Penlyn neighbourhood watch member Ameen Isaacs, who died recently.
Smith said Isaacs was the first recipient of the City of Cape Town’s reward programme for retrieving an illegal firearm, and donated everything to his neighbourhood watch.
“Our thoughts are with all who knew and loved him – may you find peace in knowing he served his community and may this be an inspiration to all of us,” Smith added.