Making South Africa Safe: A Manual for Community-based Crime Prevention

Crime and violence affect the quality of life of every South African. Reducing crime and building safer communities require the commitment of everyone and require the implementation of crime prevention initiatives at community level. Government policy
and legislation urge local government to take the lead in implementing local level crime prevention programmes. This makes sense, since local government is often in the best position to do this. The key to reducing crime lies in having several organisations work together in a partnership. These efforts need to be co-ordinated and led by a committed team, and local government could play this role. A crime prevention strategy provides a useful framework to support the development and implementation of crime prevention initiatives at local level.

The purpose of this manual is to support those responsible for such a strategy. It provides concise, user-friendly, practical guidance and outlines a step-by-step process to develop and implement a community-based crime prevention strategy. It is aimed primarily at local government, but others involved in community safety such as a Community Police Forum (CPF), Community Safety Forum (CSF) or other type of community organisation could also benefit from it.