First for local government

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MOSSEL BAY NEWS AND VIDEOS - At the opening of the Mossel Bay Municipality's Joint Operation Centre, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde referred to the venture as a "very big partnership".

The Joint Operation Centre (JOC), which started as the brainchild of five neighbourhood watch groups about five years ago, was opened officially on Tuesday, 16 August.

Initially, the aim was to create a central location for the neighbourhood watch groups to operate from and where equipment could be stored.

PHOTO GALLERY: Mossel Bay's Joint Operation Centre (JOC)

PHOTO GALLERY: JOC Opening 16 August

Fast forward to August 2022 to a centre called "a first of its kind in South African local government".

Winde said partnership was key. "We always talk about how we get law enforcement to work across spheres of local government, the private sector and civil society. Here, at the JOC we see this happening in reality. The coming together of role players is leading the way to safety in our region.

It is best practice and therefore will influence other regions in our province and country," Winde said.

Humble beginnings

A community partnership was discussed in 2017. Land was acquired and leased to the neighbourhood watch groups at a special rate by council to have containers as office space for operational command and control.

After establishing a non-profit company, the Mossel Bay Safety Initiative, the group discovered a derelict building at the Mossel Bay Golf Estate which belongs to the Mossel Bay Municipality. Several processes and discussions with all the relevant parties, as well as due process ensued in 2018 to take occupation of the building.

In 2020, a Community Safety Portfolio was established by council. Work on the building started in April 2021 and it was signed off a year later. Additions were made and implemented, including a strong focus on universal access.

Following a sourcing, recruitment and training process, staff started occupying the building from 1 June 2022. Then the race against time started - to finalise equipment, structures, integration of systems, telecommunication, information technology and more.

Under one roof

This multimillion-rand centre acts as a force multiplier to ensure greater community safety, effective service delivery and the management of information.

Departments delivering services at the JOC include provincial traffic, municipal traffic, municipal law enforcement, municipal fire, rescue and disaster management, municipal call centre, neighbourhood watch representatives, the South African Police Service and Garden Route District Disaster Management.

The centre has its own Natis system up and running.

It also accommodates an office for the police ombudsman, General Oswald Reddy, which offers members of the community the opportunity to escalate their policing issues at local level.

The municipal telemetry system is monitored from the centre and a media office has been set up. The Department of Correctional Services, NSRI, EMS, a lifesaving component, as well as hostage negotiators, trauma counsellors and a chaplain service can be accessed through the centre.

No less than 200 security camera feeds are currently monitored from the observation centre in the JOC and it has the capacity to access 23 000 more countrywide.

The efficiency of the JOC is also harnessed through aerial support, which includes the use of drones and helicopters, the latter in private ownership.

Currently, the students trained as first responders are undergoing further training at the JOC. This training, conducted in crowd management and concluded in June, was a first for a municipality in the province. The City of Cape Town has since made use of both the local training facility and programme as best practice.

Still in the development phase is the establishment of a dedicated K9 unit and a unit that will specifically deal with land invasion. Soon to come is an advancement of the law enforcement and peace officer programme.

Public private partnership

The JOC is seen as a public private partnership. The non-profit company managing the JOC has five directors, including municipal manager Colin Puren and Councillor Leon van Dyk as the portfolio chairman for Community Safety.

The majority representation is held by neighbourhood watch members.

"The JOC is a communication hub from where we can manage information and work pertaining to both service delivery and community safety.

"We are working hard to make it as inclusive as possible to serve the entire community. Community safety is a communal challenge. The municipality's point of departure is a well-coordinated approach to this issue. If we work together, we can ensure an environment where the economy flourishes and where our residents are employed and live together in harmony," concluded executive mayor, Alderman Dirk Kotzé at the opening.