The City of Cape Town, in association with the Western Cape Government, paid tribute to the hard work of community crime fighters at the Annual Neighbourhood Watch Awards function which was held today, Saturday 23 March 2019 at the Vygieskraal Stadium in Athlone.

The Awards were introduced in 2018 to acknowledge the contribution that the thousands of neighbourhood watch members across the metro make towards building a safer city for all.

The City has a longstanding relationship with community crime fighting organisations.

The Neighbourhood Watch Support Programme is now in its 11th year, after being introduced in 2008 to help register, train and equip neighbourhood watch members.

‘We are thankful for the knowledge and commitment of our neighbourhood watch groups who take pride in their communities by supporting authorities to keep their communities safe. The relationship with community policing structures and neighbourhood watch groups is vital to addressing the level of crime in neighbourhoods as these organisations are a source of intelligence,’ said Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato.

The Awards comprised a number of group and individual categories that required nominations from peers or from the general public.

There were also numerous Leadership Choice Awards presented.

A full list of recipients is available here: https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Forms,%20notices,%20tariffs%20and%20lists/Neighbourhood%20Watch%20Awards%202019.pdf

‘We really can’t say it enough: the role of the Neighbourhood Watch is crucial to community safety. We cannot do it alone and that is why it is so crucial to acknowledge their contribution. We have a very strong culture of volunteerism in Cape Town and I for one am extremely grateful for that.