MOSSEL BAY - A SAFE DESTINATION
MOSSEL BAY - A SAFE COMMUNITY
Mossel Bay's Municipality (MBM), bolstered by the cooperation of the community, will not tolerate crime and will do whatever possible to ensure a safer environment for all our communities.
With these words, the acting Mayor, Alderman Dirk Kotzé, launched the Municipal programme to engage all stakeholders in the Council's programme to improve community safety. No other municipality has yet embarked on the road the MBM is taking to ensure a safer community for all our people.
The MBM is working with all law enforcement agencies such as the SA Police Service, with four police stations, the various community policing forums, and more than 30 neighbourhood watch groups including seven farm watch groups which are all officially accredited.
The council believes in effective two-way communication, public participation and active community involvement to achieve these goals. MBM believes that the community needs to be involved to help stem the growing trend of crime that is being seen as a South African phenomenon.
Another exciting feature for the joint law and order and safety community is the establishment of a formal Joint Operations Centre. Plans are well advanced, and the Council's support for this project. The object is that the joint monitoring of integrated high-resolution cameras installed in identified crime hot spots and telemetric systems will strengthen the hands of the law enforcement officers at ground level. More cameras will be installed at crime hot spots in the greater Mossel Bay.
Road Shows and townhall meetings are to be held in every municipal ward. The municipality will consult with residents on the municipal community safety plan. Ultimately, participation in these community safety structures ensures that Mossel Bay becomes the safest town in the country.
The Municipality realises that crime is often the result of social degradation and social challenges. The council supports programs to help the service delivery needs of the poorer communities. Therefore, various strategies to alleviate poverty and to create economic opportunities are being implemented concurrently. The Council supports programmes to address or assist with the service delivery needs of the indigent and poorer communities.
The cradle to grave approach in the fight against crime begins with communication and cooperation between all organisations in the community to create a safe environment for all. This will include education programmes that will inform residents of the path ahead to a safe and prosperous Mossel Bay.
MBM is currently running a campaign to attract South Africans to move to the Garden Route under the banner:
"THE GREAT ESCAPE TO MOSSEL BAY, YOUR ADVENTURE DESTINATION"
Mossel Bay is on the garden route, with 300 days of sunshine a year and in easy travelling distance to more than 15 international standard golf courses, such as Pinnacle Point, Oubaai, Fancourt and our own home club, Mossel Bay Golf Club, which is a stones throw away. Other activities include swimming and surfing on our Blue Flag beaches. We are an international destination for great white shark diving and charter fishing fishing. Already, Mossel Bay is experiencing the fruits of semigration from the poorly-administered northern provinces; with a net influx of 30 families monthly!
This is what makes Mossel Bay the safest community in South Africa - a safe haven where businesses can thrive, a safe environment for families to raise their children, a safe community where caring and compassion are paramount.