GEORGE NEWS - Stakeholders from across the justice, crime prevention and social development sectors gathered at the Garden Route Safety Summit at the Garden Route District Police Offices on Friday 17 April.
The purpose was to align priorities for the 2026/27 business safety plan and support planning with local municipalities.
Representatives from the police, the Garden Route District Municipality, provincial oversight committees, law enforcement, Safe Schools and the departments of Education, Social Development, Correctional Services and Agriculture attended.
The summit reviewed the successes and challenges, strengthened co-ordination, and supported community dialogue programmes, including the Thembalethu-based team, 16 Days of Activism Campaign, CPF training and district safety summits.
The Garden Route District’s mayor, Marais Kruger, opened the summit, noting that it forms part of the 2026/27 Safety Implementation Business Plan and is backed by a R1m Whole-of-Society Approach investment from the Western Cape Government.
He stressed the importance of partnerships between communities, government and law enforcement.
The Garden Route’s district police commissioner, Major General Phumzile Cetyana, presented nine month’s crime statistics, highlighting pressure from ageing vehicles, more than 10 units being deployed outside the district and a shortage of 39 detectives. He said sexual offences, attempted murder, residential robberies and arson remain most prevalent. He also noted planned upgrades at several police stations and ongoing collaboration with CPFs, neighbourhood watches, farm watches and private security.
The Western Cape Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety’s representative, Vuyani Mbaqa, presented the Western Cape Safety Plan 2025-2030, outlining its goal of building a resilient and safe society through integrated and co-ordinated action.
The participants at the Garden Route Safety Summit at the Garden Route District Police Offices. Photo: Marguerite van Ginkel
Mbaqa requested the participants to align the 2026/27 municipal business safety plans with the Western Cape Safety Plan 2025-2030 (draft version 2.0), which incorporates updates from October 2025.
The focus areas included integrated violence prevention, safer communities and effective policing, with programmes such as safer schools, area-based teams, CPF strengthening, rural safety, an expanded Law Enforcment Advancement Plan and hotspot policing. The summit also outlined key objectives, including fostering partnerships, reducing violent crime, addressing root causes of violence, empowering communities and enabling more responsive policing.
The Department of Education welcomed collaboration, noting that shared resources improve school safety interventions.
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