Cape Town: The civil society structures put through their paces. The dry run was the second of its kind this year and was designed to test the Civil Security Collaboration Initiative by the City of Cape Town.
This initiative involves several Neighbourhood Watches and also the civil society safety partners, who were examined through simulations, which were conducted in Milnerton and Durbanville.
The purpose of Civil Security Collaboration was to use community structures to strengthens the sharing of information and responses to crises or disasters.
The first dry run took place in May this year, with numerous scenarios in Muizenberg, Sir Lowry’s Pass Village, Strand, Milnerton and Hout Bay.
Last Saturday, two simulations were conducted. A beach safety simulation in Milnerton to test interagency coordination and emergency response protocols highlighted the importance of public safety measures during the festive season. An armed robbery and shooting incident in rural Durbanville.
City of Cape Town’s enforcement and emergency services involved the role players, Neighbourhood Watches, Afriforum, Community in Blue volunteers, SAPS Junior Commissioners, lifesaving clubs and Netcare 911.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith said that these simulations are crucial to check just how well-oiled the systems are in order to identify areas of improvement.
One requires as many hands on deck in a crisis as needed but even more important is to ensure that those hands work in a coordinated fashion, considering the interest of public safety.
Smith added that it is also a way of acknowledging the role that the civil society structures play in keeping Cape Town safe and to empower them to play an even bigger role in the safety efforts, especially over the busy summer period.
Furthermore, sharing of information is a vital part of the Civil Security Collaboration. A dedicated WhatsApp line was set up earlier this year that served as a platform by means of which participants can gain a virtual presence in the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) of the City of Cape Town.
These representatives can use the platform during crisis to communicate information to the City of Cape Town and can convey it as a part of response planning and execution.
Considering this, the Chairperson of the Safety and Security Portfolio Committee of City of Cape Town – Councillor Mzwakhe Nqavashe said that the public safety is business of everyone and the initiative underpins the approach.
The Safety and Security Directorate has proved its commitment to expand the public safety footprint by bringing others onboard from the very successful Disaster Management and Law Enforcement volunteers to the Neighbourhood Watch support programme as well as to the collaboration.
Notably, the person who needs help does not care about a title or a uniform but about the person who is coming to their rescue is up to the task. These simulations are one of the ways that we all are working towards to achieve the goal.