The election of executive members for the Lentegeur Community Police Forum (CPF) has been postponed to Thursday May 10, after only two community organisations submitted their registration forms, constitutions and proxy letters, permitting members to be eligible for election.
The elections were scheduled for Thursday April 26.
Lentegeur police station commander, Colonel Herman Seals, said those documents were necessary for organisations to be registered with the station, and for community members to hold office positions.
Chairing the meeting, Colonel Seals said 1 500 pamphlets were distributed in the community by the sector commanders, while notices were published in local newspapers.
But residents refuted the distribution of the pamphlets. They said they never saw or heard of people receiving the pamphlets.
“This is an important structure, and we need to put proper people in place,” said Raafiqah Ganger, from Woodlands Welfare Association.
Trevor de Kock, from Lentegeur, said the meeting was badly organised. He added that police would normally drive up and down streets raising meeting awareness through a loudhailer.
Another resident, Kaamilah Ismail, said people were not clear about the purpose of the meeting. He said a similar problem existed during the election of the office bearers in the CPF’s sub-forums.
“People went to a general meeting, only to find out it was for elections,” she said.
Michael Jacobs, deputy chairman of the Mitchell’s Plain Residents’ United Association (MURA), proposed that members affiliated to the sub-forums assisted Colonel Seals with getting organisations registered.
Lucinda Evans, chairwoman of the Mitchell’s Plain cluster community police board, said the community had been waiting for the annual general meeting (AGM). The AGM cannot take place until an executive committee are elected.
She said a representative from the board would be at Lentegeur police station on Saturday May 5 between 9am and 12.30pm to help organisations with registration.
The board is an umbrella body, consisting of community police forum (CPF) chairpersons from eight police stations, including Mitchell’s Plain, Lentegeur, Strandfontein, Grassy Park, Steenberg, Philippi, Lansdowne and Athlone police stations.
Candidates must also provide a proxy letter from their organisation and must live in the precinct.
The following posts are available on the CPF executive: chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer, project co-ordinator and public relations officer.
Residents wanting to apply for these positions must have no criminal record and must agree to vetting and a criminal check.
Applicants must be active members within a community-based organisation in the Lentegeur precinct and their organisation must be registered.
All the documents must be submitted to Lentegeur police station, Room 24, on or before 4.30pm on Monday May 7.
