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

The meeting was held at 10h00 on Sunday 18th October at the NG Kerk Hall on Hill Street. This time and venue was chosen intentionally to attract people from church where the priest announced our meeting. In hindsight, this venue may not have been ideal since it isolated various people, such as the Anglican nuns used in our TV documentary.

The time was perhaps also not ideal since people had plans for their Sunday and churches had varying service times. Overall we had a disappointing but fair turnout which was reflective of our various communities’ demographics. The turnout was also indicative of the apathetic nature of the residents but those who attended were responsive and engaged in the material shown and the discussion held.

The discussions were slow to start with as they didn’t know each other but as they became more comfortable. A few key problem areas were identified. These were firstly, the need to know one’s neighbours which would be beneficial in times of trouble and security issues. One attendee voiced his story of unreciprocated attempt at introducing himself to his neighbours.

The second issue raised was that of needing to help one’s surrounding community by providing them with jobs in order to cut down crime. Residents also wanted to know how they could get involved in community projects such as soup kitchens. The third issue was that of the men in Grahamstown’s apathetic attitude towards crime. Overall, the discussion was productive and raised possible viable solutions but would have been more beneficial had more residents attended.