Thanks for enlightening us Brian - very helpful. I often don't read the papers ecause.................well.............because of the level of crime I deal with on a daily basis; never mind all the horror found in newspapers so I would probably not have got around to discovering the content of this letter. Nice of you to take this trouble Brian - but Hey! that's what our boy's all about, huh.... And.....
Yip - I second all David says. The hypocracy of political parties is maddening ! On Apr 13, 9:22 pm, Big Brian <[email protected]> wrote: > It seems no-one reads newspapers anymore. Here it is, as published by > the Cape Times, Monday, April 13 2009: > Left in the lurch > The letter on the Independent Democrats' "12-point plan to tackle > crime" (April 9) sounds like the same electioneering we are hearing > from the Democratic Alliance. I question what solid action the ID can > and will take against crime. In Observatory, crime has been tackled by > involving the community and starting an active neighbourhood watch > which patrols 24/7 in close co-operation with the South African Police > Service. There are even "guerilla gardeners" who clean up , plant and > tend council areas. However, the big hope has been to start an > improvement district and thus make the funds available to fight crime > and clean up the district properly. For 15 months, volunteers have > been slogging away at signing up residents and businesses and have > obtained the over 50% resident and business agreement that Simon > Grindrod, representing the council and ID, said was necessary. This > process has suddenly been thrown into doubt by the ID. It now appears > to be opposing approval of all improvement districts where the full > 75% agreement is not obtained. For Observatory to do this would take a > few more monthsand would mean that a complete year would be lost, with > commencement only on July 1, 2010. The ID media representative stated > that the basis for its opposition is that, as a pro-poor party, it > would not support any matter that could possibly perpetuate the > imbalances of the past. I find this political action difficult to > understand. It is the less well-heeled who are particularly vulnerable > to crime. Observatory is a mixed but cohesive suburb whose only > additional way to fight crime and grime is a levy to pay for increased > security and cleaning. Part of the improvement district budget will go > to alleviating social problems and providing a "level 1" shelter to > homeless people. Observatory works closely with Loaves and Fishes in > feeding the homeless. Observatory's concern for the poor and the > marginalised was reflected in the support given to refugees of > xenophobic violence last year. (Observatory provided a level of > support that according to Shade was unique in Cape Town). The > increasing number of exploitative landlords charge maximum rentals > regardless. The effect of not having a surcharge on rates is thus > likely to benefit landlords rather than tenants. It seems strange for > political parties, who are voted in on a simple majority, to act > against the expressed wishes of a community as demonstrated by a > simple majority in a democratic signing process. It is great to plan > for long-term action to tackle the underlying causes of crime. > However, I feel immediate action is needed. Grindrod, now with COPE, > says that COPE will support Observatory with six councillors. It would > be wonderful if all the politicians in the city would work together on > constructive action to fight crime. > David Raphael > Observatory. > End of quoted text. > Please excuse any errors as I typed it from The Cape Times. Thanks to > Independent Newspapers for publishing David's letter. > Your comments are welcome. > Brian Gray > > On Apr 13, 7:59 pm, Trevor Hughes <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > On Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 12:05 PM, David Raphael <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > The Cape Times chose the above heading for my letter that they published > > > today. > > > Well David > > > Don;t keep us all in suspense - what did you letter say? > > > Trev --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
