A Fish Hoek neighbourhood watch is facing an uncertain future after the Western Cape Provincial Community Police Board found it had not followed the correct procedures during its establishment in 2022.
The matter was referred to the board after the Central Neighbourhood Watch chairperson, Elaine Payne, appealed a recommendation by the Fish Hoek Community Police Forum (CPF), the Cluster CPF board and the province’s Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety, at a meeting on Tuesday January 8, that the watch be dissolved
In the appeal, dated Thursday February 8, Ms Payne said “it was not thoroughly thought through” and “there was a lack of evidence” supporting the dissolution of the watch.
The Central Neighbourhood Watch’s constitution and code of conduct were officially signed on August 31, 2022. At the time, the watch’s founder, Rob Freeman, said he had decided to start it as he had been shocked by the deterioration of Main Road after moving back to Noordhoek from Hermanus (“New neighbourhood watch in town,” Echo, September 8, 2022).
Mr Freeman said the watch had been established, following due process, under the guidance of former CPF chairman Jonathan Mills and former Fish Hoek police chief Colonel Jackie Johnson.
“I feel that I have been treated unfairly by the CPF and that the investigation was not done properly,” he said.
He has since resigned as “elected representative” of the watch, a title given to him as he could not be part of the watch’s executive committee as he lived in Noordhoek.
CPF chairman Andre Blom said the forum had received several complaints from Main Road businesses who had accused Mr Freeman of unprofessional conduct last year.
Mr Blom said the CPF’s investigation of the complaints had found that Mr Freeman had acted outside of the watch’s constitution, bringing the watch’s name into disrepute. In addition, it found that the watch had never been properly constituted and its boundaries encroached on Valley North Neighbourhood Watch.
He said the allegations and the forum’s intentions to investigate, as well as the matter of the watch’s constitution, had been brought to the attention of SAPS, but following Mr Freeman’s resignation, on Monday March 11, the CPF had not taken the complaints any further.
Mr Blom said there had been no official meetings with the CPF or the Valley North watch to discuss the boundaries, and there were also no records of meetings with the Business Improvement District or residents of the affected area, he said, adding that it would have been “logical and good business practice” to have formally consulted the BID as it provided security and other services to Main Road.
Mr Freeman had initially been elected as the head of the watch despite not living or running a business in the area, and it was only after that had been questioned that Ms Payne, a Main Road resident, had replaced him as chairperson although he had continued to be very much involved in the day-to-day running of the watch in his position as elected representative, said Mr Blom
“According to the Western Cape CPF constitution, he cannot be a watch member or committee member if he doesn’t live in the area, but from all communications, it is clear that he is driving processes, arranging meetings, and announcing partnerships,” Mr Blom said.
Mr Freeman said neither Mr Mills nor Colonel Johnson had been contacted during the CPF investigation, which he described as a “witch hunt” against him as he had “ruffled some feathers” in his attempts to get Fish Hoek drug and crime-free.
Mr Mills has since resigned and Colonel Johnson has been transferred to the Muizenberg police station, but both told the Echo that they had not been contacted by police or the CPF during the investigation.
Mr Mills said that under the guidance of Colonel Johnson all the issues, including the boundaries, had been addressed at the time.
“I’m sure the approved minutes of the CPF’s exco’s meetings from that time can provide the detail of the discussions and agreements that were reached on the matter,” he said, adding as the shared objective of all these groups is improving community safety, it seems counter-productive that this watch is being dissolved,“ he said.
Colonel Johnson said the role of the police had been to get police clearance for the those seeking membership of the watch, and none had had criminal records.
“There was a need for a watch in that particular area because the Main Road was a hot spot for crime, and there was an area not covered by any neighbourhood watch,” she said.
Mr Freeman said that during the investigation, the CPF had refused to tell him what he had been accused of but later he had learnt that a Main Road garage had complained about him asking whether it had street-facing security cameras and accused him of trespassing and being a “scamster”. However, he said he had made the enquiry after Colonel Johnson had asked about Main Road businesses with security cameras.
There had, he said, been another complaint about him driving around with a young boy in his car, but he had been taking the child to social services and had stopped along the way to buy him breakfast as he had been hungry.
Subsequent to the investigations into the establishment of the watch, Mr Freeman allegedly assaulted a security guard on the Main Road at around 5pm on Monday February 5. Fish Hoek police spokesman Warrant Officer Peter Middleton confirmed that Mr Freeman had been charged with assault and had made a brief appearance in Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court on Thursday February 15. The case has been postponed to Friday April 5.
Mr Freeman said he and the guard had “hit shoulders” when walking past each other and then the guard had hit him and they “got into a scuffle”.
Mr Blom said Mr Mills and Colonel Johnson had not been contacted as both had left the Fish Hoek area last year and the forum had proof that the correct procedures were not followed and contacting them would not have changed the outcome.
The chairman of the Western Cape Provincial Community Police Board’s dispute resolution committee, Justin Kumlehn, concluded in his report, dated Monday March 11, that there were no minutes of the meeting indicating how the watch was established, there was not a properly mandated annual general meeting to elect the executive committee, certain members of the watch might have been acting unlawfully, and the watch had limited members and encroached on the boundaries of another watch.
The board suggested that the watch join up with the existing watch, Valley North, and operate within its boundaries as a street committee, or follow the correct process as prescribed by the Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety should it wish to remain a separate watch.
Ms Payne said the watch accepted the findings of the board and was considering its options.
Mr Freeman said it would be a shame to dissolve the watch as its efforts had led to several arrests and seen the launch of Blow the Whistle on Crime and other crime-fighting initiatives.
