COMMUNITY SAFETY INITIATIVE: CHESTERVILLE PILOT PROJECT

Vukukhanye is presently engaging with various stakeholders (community, government business and civil society) in the implementation of a Community Safety Initiative, targeting the community of Chesterville.

 

The principles underpinning the Community Safety Initiative are based on a document commissioned by the South African government and compiled by the National Crime Prevention Centre (SAPS), the CSIR Crime Prevention Centre and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) entitled “A Manual for Community Based Crime Prevention – Making South Africa Safe” (2000).  The Ethekweni Metro Council’s crime prevention strategy (“Durban Safer City Strategy: 2000”) is also aligned with this manual. 

 

The strategy is holistic in that it focuses attention on understanding the problem and building solutions to manage three key areas, namely: the victim, the offender and the environment.  This approach is considered sound and makes use of international best practice. As projects are identified and implemented, they will contribute towards the eventual achievement of a ‘critical mass’ of tactics, coordinated within a single community safety strategy.

 

Projects presently included in the strategy are:

 

1.   Street Committees

      The re-establishment of operational Street Committees in Chesterville

 

2.   ‘One-Stop Centre’

      Establishment of a ‘One-Stop Centre’ in Chesterville dealing with issues such as rape, domestic violence and child abuse. This facility will include a satellite police station.

 

3.   After-School Sport (‘Sport For All’ social franchise model)

 

4.   Tertiary Education Bursary Fund

 

5.   School Partnership Programme

 

 

Other projects in planning stages include:

 

1.   A Small Business Support Centre

2.   Bamba Izandla Preschool Construction Project

3.   HIV Support, Prevention and Training

What is Restorative Justice?

  • It is widely recognised that “punishment” can no longer be the primary goal when dealing with offenders and persons convicted of a crime.  This recognition, and the ineffectiveness to effectively rehabilitate offenders within the traditional criminal justice systems, has given rise to new approaches to criminal justice. Restorative Justice is such an approach. It focuses on reconciling and reintegrating offenders into society rather than on retribution.
  • Restorative Justice” has as its primary goal - Reconciliation rather than punishment. It aims to undergird the commonly accepted idea that a healthy community depends on a balance of rights and responsibilities. When dis-equilibrium occurs, creative and proactive intervention is required to restore balance between all parties affected. Restoration of the members of the community, the victim, affected families, and the offender can only be achieved through the participation and engagedment of all.
    The journey towards restoration begins when the offender acknowledges that his/her action has caused the imbalance. The process for leading to an offender expressing genuine remorse, as well as to provide for an opportunity for appropriate restitution or compensation for the wrongdoing, is all part of the path that needs to be walked.
  • Restorative justice recognisies that the “wrong” can never be completely undone, but where true remorse and a forgiveness is present significant progress towards equilibrium of relationships can can be achieved.
  • Some of the restorative justice initiatives we focus on include: victim and offender family intervention and support; victim (victim’s family) – offender dialoque intervention & reconcilitation; Released Offender employment opportunity facilitation; Community support for released and imprisoned offenders - inclusive of spiritual, emotional and practical counselling.
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