The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape congratulates the DA-led Kouga Municipality on successfully passing a motion in Council for the establishment of a stand-alone Safety and Security Directorate.
We commend DA Mayor Hattingh Bornman for always prioritising residents’ safety through additional security innovations.
This stand-alone Safety and Security Directorate forms part of the DA-governed Kouga’s integrated approach to personal safety, law enforcement, and emergency response.
Although policing is not a primary function of local government, communities increasingly rely on municipalities for leadership and swift action during emergencies, especially given SAPS’s limited resources. This stand-alone Safety and Security Directorate allows Kouga to better tend to safety and security needs.
Additional to Kouga’s latest innovation, the municipality makes use of high-tech drones to fight crime and also operates a state-of-the-art Incident Command Centre in Humansdorp.
The command centre has the capacity to monitor more than 300 cameras, with municipal and private security cameras feeding into the system. Various social media and community messaging groups are also monitored to report information regarding incidents to the relevant authorities.
Also used by the municipality is the ground-breaking “UR SAFE Kouga App”, allowing residents to dial emergency services via voice command with geo-located response, and the “Boots on the Ground” project, with 18 retired police and safety experts.
Kouga’s adopted Community Safety Plan entails a whole-of-society approach working in collaboration with stakeholders such as the SAPS, agricultural and civic rights organisations, municipal departments, emergency services, the NSRI, private security companies, businesses, schools, and charities.
The DA-led Kouga Municipality is committed to community safety and is well on its way towards becoming the safest municipality in South Africa.