The City of Cape Town held its annual Neighbourhood Watch (NW) Awards in honour of local patrollers for their commitment and dedication to their communities.
The City of Cape Town held its annual Neighbourhood Watch (NW) Awards in honour of local patrollers for their commitment and dedication to their communities.
And this year the Mobiliser of the Year award went to Edwin Groenewald from Hillview Guardians Neighbourhood Watch while the Courage in Action award was clinched by Neil Jacobus, chair of Carola Neighbourhood Watch in Grassy Park.
The Courage in Action is awarded in recognition of sustained NW operations in the face of highly compromised community safety.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said neighbourhood watch members sacrifice a great deal.
“We value the partnerships that we have built and the annual awards ceremony is but a small token of the City’s appreciation.
“Some of our watches operate under extremely difficult conditions, but are not deterred, and we applaud their commitment and dedication.
“I want to encourage communities to join hands with their local watch and to support the good work that is being done.”
Meanwhile, vice-chair of Hillview Guardians and deputy chair of Muizenberg Community Policing Forum (CPF) Ashwin Abrahams praised Groenewald for his commitment and motivation to the neighbourhood watch.
“Since he joined Hillview Guardians NW, he and fellow patroller Bradley Solomons, whom we sadly lost earlier in the year to a battle with cancer, patrolled from early in the morning.
“Edwin leaves his family and his warm bed at 05:00 to make sure residents get to their buses safely; come rain or shine he is a real motivator to be part of the neighbourhood watch.
“I look up to him and he keeps us going when we are down; he always has jokes when we patrol together to keep morale high.”
The Inspiration of the Year award went to Elsabe Peterson from Extreme NW in Delft while Crime Fighter of the Year went to Jean Baartman and Jeano Diener from Victoria Park NW in Somerset West.
Meanwhile, in recognition of exceptional efforts towards a clean, healthy and safe environment the Social Responsibility Award went to Extreme NW in Delft.
