The Langebaan Community Policing Forum (CPF) hosted its annual general meeting on Wednesday 23 October.
Attended by members of the community in Langebaan, the meeting served as an opportunity to vote and announce a new committee for the CPF and for the community to discuss safety and crime in the town.
In his chairperson’s report Peter Lindenberg said in the past year the forum had had quite a few successes. He said it now had a partnership with municipal Law Enforcement to start work effectively and still had a strong relationship with local police.
He thanked Captain Kim Whitton, station commander of the Langebaan Police Station for her ongoing commitment.
Lindenberg shared more about the installation of an uninterrupted power-supply project of the Thusong Centre and the Tolhuis, and their other involvements in the community.
“It is my considered opinion that the Langebaan CPF has complied with the requirements of the Police Act and of the Uniform Constitution in terms of achieving the aims and objectives of CPF’s during the reporting period.”
He added that the forum had achieved a huge amount of success and hopefully would be able to maintain the momentum in 2025 and beyond.
“My deepest gratitude goes to my exco members who have put in many, many hours of hard work simply for the benefit of their community.”
In her report Whitton said the crime overview for the previous financial year was not the best for Langebaan. The precinct saw an increase in the following categories:. Contact crime, specifically murder, attempted murder, assault with a view to causing grievous bodily harm, robbery aggravated and robbery common. . Contact-related crime, arson and damage to property. Property-related crimes saw a decrease, however the sub-category theft out of motor vehicles saw an increase. Theft generally, and commercial crime and shoplifting also saw a boost in numbers.
Crimes that saw a decrease in numbers were sexual offences, burglary residential and business premises, theft of motor vehicles, stock theft, car jacking and robbery at businesses premises.
Whitton highlighted that commercial crime had generally increased on the West Coast escalated last year and seen as a serious problem. She said the method used to commit these illegal activities vary.
She thanked Team Langebaan Neighbourhood Watch, Longacres Neighbourhood Watch, the ladies from Echo 1( Women on the Move), the CPF and the various private security companies in the Langebaan precinct for their continued support, assistance and effort to create a safer Langebaan.
“While Langebaan is not crime-free, with the continued support and partnerships and visions of all parties involved it is still much safer than other towns.”
The new exco of the Langebaan CPF elected is Peter Lindenberg (chairperson), Dave Allam (deputy chair), Miranda Matthews (secretary), Dicker vin Brandis (treasurer), Tim Schoeman (project coordinator), Debbie Lindenberg (project relations officer), Melbourne Davids (additional member) and Peter Jack (additional member).
