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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
