NEDLAC CONFERENCE MOBILISES CIVIL SOCIETY TO PLAN LOCAL-LEVEL ACTION AGAINST CRIME AND VIOLENCE

17 November 1996

Civil society's fight against crime and violence is set to acquire new momentum when a high-profile national conference this week brings together the widest range of stakeholders ever to thrash out ideas for forging partnerships at the local level to combat one of South African society's biggest scourges.

The conference on Thursday 21 November-organised by Nedlac in collaboration with the Department of Safety and Security-comes after a comprehensive planning process which involved Nedlac's four constituencies-labour, government, community and business-as well as other key players such as religious groups, non-governmental, political and professional organisations, and sport and cultural groups. A working group comprising all stakeholders has been meeting for the past two months to ensure an action-orientated outcome for the conference.

The theme of the conference is: "Building commitment to partnerships for local action".

Nedlac executive director Jayendra Naidoo says the conference aims to build national commitment to assist ordinary South Africans to rally on a massive scale at local level to work together to prevent crime and violence.

"The intention is to not have a talk shop, where we all agree that crime and violence is bad", Naidoo says, "but to come away from the conference with specific initiatives and courses of action which will sustain a long-term campaign. The Nedlac initiative should be seen to complement the many other anti-crime initiatives which are underway, such as government's national crime-prevention strategy and the various programmes of Business Against Crime.

"In fact, the inputs of the ministry, several government departments and Business Against Crime have been crucial to the planning and implementation of the conference," Naidoo says.

Safety and Security secretary Azhar Cachalia says government has worked extremely hard in recent months to begin implementing its national crime-prevention strategy.

"It has become increasingly apparent that the national crime-prevention strategy can only succeed if it is supported by local action by civic groups and individuals in partnership with their new local authorities. We see this conference as an instrument to galvanise national organisations to move faster in devising concrete local action plans," Cachalia says.

The conference, which takes place on Thursday 21 November at The Parktonian Hotel in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, will aim to:

• mobilise all key stakeholders to support and enhance existing and emerging crime-prevention strategies and initiatives;
• identify possible areas for active and sustainable partnerships at local level to prevent crime and violence;
• facilitate the participation of the rank-and-file membership of each constituency in the development and implementation of crime-prevention action plans and in the formation of partnerships; and
• create mechanisms for the monitoring and evaluating of progress after the conference.

President Nelson Mandela will deliver the keynote address at the conference, which will also be addressed by the Minister of Safety and Security, Mr Sydney Mufamadi; Cosatu general secretary Sam Shilowa; Business Against Crime chairperson Wendy Lucas-Bull; Sanco president Mlungisi Hlongwane; and National Sports Council president Mluleki George.

Conference delegates will break up into six commissions which will meet for two hours each to thrash out plans of action for:

• developing community-level partnerships;
• an extensive public-awareness programme;
• a victim-support programme;
• a youth-involvement programme;
• development projects at local level; and
• dealing with five national-priority crimes.

Naidoo says the fact that so many civil-society groups have come together to plan and participate in this conference should be seen as an expression of their commitment to work together on this issue, and as a recognition on their part of the importance of building a campaign to mobilise their rank-and-file membership if crime and violence is to be conquered.

"Crime and violence became a Nedlac issue because Nedlac's constituencies recognise that it affects economic development. Fighting crime and violence is an important contribution to creating a climate which promotes sustainable economic growth and development.

"We believe that this conference will be an important day for South Africa, when the leadership of all stakeholders come together to signal once and for all that they have had enough of crime and violence in their communities, that they are willing to work together to fight against the way crime and violence disrupts their lives, and that they recognise the importance of working with the police to combat the spread of crime and violence in their communities."