Evaluating implementation of the Rural Safety Plan in the Cacadu district municipality.

1. BACKGROUND The Cacadu district municipality is situated in the Eastern Cape Province and it is mainly rural, and characterized by unemployment and poverty which leads to large numbers of serious violent crimes which include farm attacks, murders, assaults, aggravated robberies and stock theft.

Continued The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996 mandates the South African Police Service to ensure safety of the communities and the rural communities are also not excluded.

Research Problem The problem to be researched in this study was how the Rural Safety Plan is implemented in the Cacadu district municipality. The farmers, farm workers and the rural communities of this municipality regularly complain about poor service from the SAPS as they are soft targets for criminals.

Aim and objectives of the study The aim of this study was to evaluate the manner in which the RSP is implemented in the Cacadu district municipality. In order to do that, the objectives are to describe the SAPS and communities understandings of the RSP by: discussing the challenges hindering effectiveness in implementing the RSP;

Continued identifying international best practices in the policing of rural areas; and consolidating best practices from the cluster stations of Cacadu district municipality in formulating recommendations which can be transferred to similar settings.

Research Methodology The research study was conducted in two clusters within the Cacadu district municipality which are Graaff-Reinet and Grahams-town. These two clusters were chosen because the Grahams-town cluster has high volume of crime and Graaff-Reinet has few reported cases. Qualitative research approach was used to conduct the research.

Continued One-on-one and focus group interviews were used as data collection methods. Thirty SAPS participants who include 12 station commanders, 12 visible policing commanders and six rural safety coordinators were interviewed.

Continued Six farmer’s associations and six resident’s association focus groups from both clusters participated in the research study. These focus groups were made up of six to 10 participants.

Continued An exploratory research design was used to conduct this research as there is scarcity of information on this topic. Non-probability sampling which is a purposive sampling was used to select participants.

Findings of the research study The research study revealed that the RSP is not properly implemented by the SAPS. Inadequate resources which include manpower and vehicles have an impact in the implementation of the RSP. There is no interaction between the SAPS and the communities in the Grahams-town cluster whereas it was better in the Graaff-Reinet cluster.

Recommendations The suggested recommendations are: Accountability of the SAPS officials from both clusters to the Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner’s office and to the Cacadu rural communities through accountability meetings.

Continued Cooperation between the police and the communities and availing of resources for implementation of the RSP. Submission of needs analyses which include human and physical resources to the Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner’s office to ensure that adequate resources are available for the implementation of the RSP.

Continued Social crime prevention and situational crime prevention models can be used to fight crime for the rural areas.

Conclusion More strategies have to be implemented to ensure the safety of the rural communities. The SAPS has to ensure proper coordination to ensure that other stakeholders assist in the implementation of the RSP.