Plett abuzz with safety app
PLETTENBERG BAY - The community safety app Buzzer recently announced it has teamed up with Plettenberg Bay security role players to roll out the app in Plett after it proved invaluable in Cape Town and surrounds. While the local community has been using the application for a while, it is now officially being rolled out as a crimefighting tool.
Keri Cross, director and founder of the Buzzer app, said all across South Africa people invest a lot of time, money and effort to keep themselves and their families safe in their own homes, but all of these have their drawbacks.
"We needed a solution that could efficiently connect neighbours to neighbours and to the local security service providers," she explained.
Cross and her business partner Jessica Boonstra organised a workshop with representatives from all different local communities. Together with local emergency responders and the residents, they co-designed their ideal process in case of an incident and this became the blueprint for the Buzzer app. It has since taken Cape Town by storm and has thousands of active users.
"We wanted to build a solution that is freely accessible for everyone, not just for the happy few who can afford a private security company or an expensive app subscription," Boonstra said. "Buzzer is a free community safety tool, built specifically for both community and private response. Buzzer gives users a personal SOS button and also has a report function for crimes, fires, suspicious activity - the list goes on. All alerts made through the app go directly to Plett Security and your neighbours. The SOS and report features work in green belts, parks and most nearby mountain areas that have cellphone signals, making the app great for hikers, walkers and riders too." Buzzer places all emergency services into one place and eliminates not knowing who to turn to for help.
The app is available for free, for all iOS and Android users.