Background of Area | Project Overview | Community Meeting | The Way Forward | ALL MULTIMEDIA

The discussion kicked off with the audience’s reaction to the media output.  The piece that aroused the most reaction was the documentary on a rape survivor who told her story.  The entire audience was shocked and moved by her honesty. The rest of the discussion was centred around the poor reporting of crime and suggestions on how to better the crime situation in the area.

Four main reasons were given for the silence about crime by different participants and which the rest of the audience echoed: the fear of revictimisation, acquaintance with criminals (such as family and friendship relations), lack of faith in the police and other authorities, and lack of contact with and knowledge of the Community Policing Forum in the area.

The majority of the solutions that were suggested were community-based initiatives as opposed to police or government driven solutions.  The audience was in agreement about one suggestion in particular; incorporating some of the traditional ways of dealing with offences with more modern ones.  This would not imply the abandonment of structures that already exist, but more the merging of these structures with the community.

There was a call for the members of the Community Policing Forum to make themselves known to the residents and the formation of two new forums was also suggested.  One for parents in the community where they would meet regularly to share solutions to child crime, and the other for the youth where ideas could be exchanged with the older generations in order to bridge the communication gap.

The youth also called for programmes that would address crime at their level and in ways that would appeal to them. 

The neighbourhood meeting not only generated ideas and possible solutions, it brought the crime silence to the attention of the residents and made them realise that speaking up is the only way forward.