Following an overall increase in safety measures in the Western Cape, the province has taken another initiative with the introduction of the Western Cape Safety Cabinet.
Its objective is to track and measure progress of the Western Cape Safety Plan and the first meeting was held today (Wednesday), chaired by Western Cape Premier Alan Winde.
The entire Western Cape Cabinet and representatives from the criminal justice system were in attendance, including Western Cape Provincial Police Commissioner, Yolisa Matakata as well as representatives from the City of Cape Town and the Departments of Justice and Constitutional Development and Correctional Services.
At the meeting it was decided that a Safety Dashboard would be used to track progress and to hold the executive accountable to the people of the province.
Individual departments of the Western Cape Government have each been assigned a safety priority in the plan – the progress of which will be tracked by the dashboard.
“Today’s first Safety Cabinet was a positive first step towards efficiency and accountability to the people of this province. We can only achieve this if we are working across all three spheres of government, and I thank all the parties involved, who participated today,” said Winde.
He added that the feedback received today would be considered and changes implemented over the next six weeks before the Cabinet’s next meeting.
Other recently increased safety measurements for citizens and tourists include initiatives such as the City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement Advancement Programme which seeks to increase the presence of law enforcement in the province, or the Travel Wise project implemented by the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, James Vos.
