Neighbourhood Watch structures lend a hand

NEIGHBOURHOOD Watch (NHW) structures in Khayelitsha received a boost when they were handed 15 starter kits to mark the launch of the NHW Safety Improvement Volunteers Project with Covid-19 relief measures.

The provincial community safety department said the qualifying NHW structures received training from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) prior to their deployment.

Community safety MEC Albert Fritz said the pilot programme was projected to run for six months and will be reviewed at its threemonth mark in Covid-19 hot spot areas.

The implementation period will be between July 1 and December 31, subject to need and departmental funding.

“Ensuring that we stop the spread of Covid-19 is our top priority and we have allocated approximately R3.5 million to achieve this end through our NHW deployments.

“The deployment of the NHWs aims to provide health advocacy through the promotion of social distancing and utilising PPE.

At its core, it aims to instil behavioural change by increasing civil compliance with the five golden rules of hygiene at places of congregation including shops, health centres, recreational areas, Sassa payout points and relief points, transport interchanges and schools,” said Fritz.

He said the programme will later be expanded to support an additional 23 NHWs in the Eastern, Tygerberg, Klipfontein and Southern hotspot areas. In total, 42 accredited and screened NHWs will be supported with funding.

“An important aspect of this project is that NHWs will be deployed in an evidence-driven and data-led approach as deployments areas will be identified through a community mapping process which will involve key stakeholders. It is important to note that the process of identifying points of congregation is community-led and not top-down.

“We value the contribution of community stakeholders who best understand the lived reality of Khayelitsha and her challenges.”

The government has placed a three-tiered monitoring and evaluation system consisting of:

Level 1: NHW Chairpeople/ Co-ordinator who will be responsible for the patrolling, placement planning and reporting of lags. They must maintain daily logs;

Level 2: The head of the placement institution is responsible for verifying the logs daily or may delegate their representative to do so and should inform the NHW chairperson and department accordingly; and

Level 3: unannounced departmental visits will ensure monitoring and utilising a tool template provided by the department.