Judging by the lines of cars snaking into the Cape Town CBD, the festive season is in full swing, and the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) has revved up its services across all departments to cope with the influx.
The most visible of its departments is Safety & Security. Not only will the CCID be deploying 11 additional members of its own public safety officer (PSO) component at night from 17 December until 15 March, it has been in extensive liaison with both the South African Police Service and City of Cape Town Law Enforcement to plan joint deployments of additional staff from both entities.
According to Tasso Evangelinos, chief operating officer of the CCID: “There will be additional deployment throughout the CBD, just as we usually see during the festive season. As the CBD is increasingly becoming a destination of choice not just for visitors but for locals too, we are expecting a bumper crowd.”
To this end, says Evangelinos, the CCID is also particularly heartened to see private enterprise take the initiative to ensure festive goers stay safe: “We’d really like to applaud businesses that form part of the Long Street Association, which is funding additional City Law Enforcement officers to be deployed under the CCID’s management alongside our own PSOs.”
CCID Safety & Security manager Muneeb Hendricks elaborates: “These additional officers are being deployed at night and we are already seeing a substantial drop in the number of crimes being reported. Besides the fact that the greater visible policing presence on the streets helps to deter crime from occurring in the first place, these Law Enforcement officers also have the power to issue fines for bylaw infringements and to arrest perpetrators of crime.”
“The Long Street Association will pay for three months of deployment for the Law Enforcement officers, while the CCID has agreed to fund the cost for a fourth month, just as we fund the cost for deploying our own additional CCID officers throughout the CBD,” says Evangelinos. “This is vital as our festive season in Cape Town seems to extend year on year, particularly in terms of the nighttime economy, which now runs right through the year, with thousands upon thousands of people enjoying the CBD after hours.”
The CCID’s new four-person CCTV unit will also be highly visible on the streets during the festive season, as will its 12-member impact squad, deployed in pods of three in high-visitor areas from 12 noon until 12 midnight, seven days a week.
The entire safety operation is accompanied by the CCID’s “Stash it, don’t flash it” campaign, explains CCID Communications manager Carola Koblitz. “Posters supporting this campaign and reminding the public to be vigilant can be seen throughout the CBD. We are in particular reminding people to keep their belongings safe in their presence, be aware of who may be watching them at ATMs and ensure that they don’t fall victim to theft out of motor vehicles – either by leaving valuable items in plain site or falling victim to remote jamming.”
Explains Hendricks: “Remote jamming occurs when people think they’ve locked their cars and walk away from the vehicle without first testing the door handle. Remote jammers send signals using inconspicuous devices that look like garage remotes and block the signals that motorists send to their own vehicles as they walk away.”
Alongside the additional deployment of its safety and security team, the CCID is also implementing additional measures in terms of urban management and keeping the CBD clean.
According to Richard Beesley, responsible for the CCID Urban Management department, additional litter pickers from the NGO Straatwerk are being deployed to cover high pedestrian footfall areas over peak times during the day in areas such as St Georges Mall, Government Avenue, Heerengracht and Lower Plein Street, as well as problematic areas such as wind tunnels and public areas where events or gatherings may take place.
“We will also be launching our ’Dawn Patrol’ service, which will operate Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings from 03h00 till 07h00 from 18 December 2015 till 15 January 2016 in areas where patrons party until the early hours of the morning,” says Beesley. “By partnering with Straatwerk, just as we do throughout the year, we are creating even more work opportunities for the less fortunate over this period.”
On event days such as New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Tweede Nuwejaar, the CCID has also increased the day and night shifts of its professional J&M Cleaning team.
In terms of its Social Development department, says manager Pat Eddy: “We will have our normal fieldwork assistance during the day as well as a fieldworker on call during the evening and over weekends.”
With most NGOs closing over the holiday period, the CCID has arranged with The Carpenter Shop to keep its ablution block open from 15 December until 11 January 2016.
“The ablution facility will be open Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) and will operate from 08h00 till 11h00 daily,” says Eddy.
In addition, the City of Cape Town’s own Department of Social Work and Early Childhood Development will once again make eight fieldworkers and three reintegration workers available in the CBD on weekdays, from 17 December until 29 January.
Says Eddy: “These teams from the City will focus on areas such as St Georges Mall, Greenmarket Square, Long Street and The Company’s Garden.”
The City’s project seeks to reduce the number of people living on the street through targeted interventions with street people by an outreach worker/fieldworker. The fieldworker’s job includes the gathering and dissemination of information on available City programmes and resources, as well as screening and directing street people to the relevant services.
Concludes Eddy: “Any member of the public who is concerned about social issues or is wanting assistance for someone in these identified hotspot areas can directly refer their concerns to the City Social Development call centre number on 0800 872 201.”