Deputy Speaker, I thank the hon member for the question. The Community Patroller Project is one of the projects that has been initiated by the Department of Community Safety in the Gauteng province. Patrollers receive a R300 voucher as a token of appreciation. The vouchers are issued on a quarterly basis and are meant for volunteers or patrollers who would have actively participated in the patrol activities during each period under review.
As part of improving the programme, Gauteng is considering further developing the skills of volunteers through learnership programmes and facilitating support from other government institutions, with a view to achieving the following: assisting in equipping these patrollers for employment opportunities; and encouraging entrepreneurship amongst patrollers, which could result in them empowering each other and volunteering to assist the police for many reasons.
Patrol groups undergo NQF Level 3 security-related training. This process equips them to understand better the environment in which they work. It also opens up opportunities for them to be employed in the security industry. Thank you.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for the response. I hope that the government and the department will increase the stipend or reward beyond the R300 voucher that is allocated every three months. I am sure that if this can be done, the people who are volunteering - for example Ntate Abe Lebelo of Ward 14, the leader of patrollers in Soweto - would be happy and more motivated as they continue doing the good work.
Their work includes ensuring the safety of residents as they walk to and from work. This further indicates that working together as government, legislatures and members of the community, we can do more to create safer communities. Thank you.
I agree with the hon member. Thank you.
That was a comment.
Madam Speaker, could the Minister explain why a total moratorium has been placed on the taking on of reservists, with no date announced for its lifting? Could the Minister also tell us whether the same moratorium relates to patrollers? We have a number of citizens offering their services to SAPS, expecting no payment at all, and yet we have this huge blockage that has developed.
Certainly, I have heard that patrollers, while not asking for salaries, are given certain food parcels as a sort of gift for doing the work that they do. It is of great concern to citizens who are proffering their services who are turned away. I would like to know when this turning-away process is going to stop. Also, why is it that you are even considering allowing reservists without driving licences to be admitted through the back door, as it were, into SAPS when we already have such a huge problem with SAPS members who do not have driving licences, even today?
Madam Speaker, I would invite the hon member to just give details and to substantiate her claims, particularly on the question of the turning away of members of the public who want to join the reservists.
As you would be aware, what is currently happening with the reservists is that they are divided into four categories. Amongst those four categories is a category for those who are unemployed. That is the group we are dealing with currently, in terms of looking at the feasibility of having them as employed police officers, so there isn't any turning away of would- be police reservists.
However, as I say, if you have any evidence in that regard, we would definitely welcome it because we have been going around the country and people have been showing their enthusiasm to join the Police Service, whether as reservists or even as patrollers, as it were. And we encourage people to do that, but if there are people who are turned away, we really would want that evidence. Thank you very much.
Madam Speaker, I also want to say that the involvement of the community in the fight against crime is an important pillar in its success. However, I just want to ask the Minister, in relation to the community safety department in Gauteng, whether that kind of project is going to be broadened beyond Gauteng. If so, I would like to know whether there is any consideration for some degree of cover for those who have been recorded as normal participants in the fight against crime, for example, in the case of volunteers whom we heard qualify for a stipend.
Is there something beyond the stipend or food parcel in terms of the cover? If so, how broad would that be? If there is already something in existence, could details of that be made available?
Madam Speaker, the broadening of the scope is what provinces do. We were dealing with a specific province here, namely Gauteng. And this question of the hon member is related to the original question.
In terms of resources for patrollers and the general public, I am getting an indication from members from both sides of the House that they would motivate strongly for us, as the SA Police Service, to get more resources. I hope so because, frankly speaking, the enthusiasm out there is too great for any one department to be able to absorb everyone. Things are complicated by the fact that we have a high rate of unemployment in the country, so both people who have very good intentions and those with not-so-good intentions would want to come to the fore, in so far as that is concerned. But I am pleased that hon members will really support us. Thank you.
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