Marlene Matthew, chairperson of KwaZulu-Natal’s Amanzimtoti Community Police Forum (ACPF) which walked away with the CPF of the Year Award, said collaborating and working with everyone who can add value to their community has contributed to the CPF’s success.
The ACPF, which boasts eight sub-forums and five neighbourhood watches across three sectors (churches, NPOs, and government departments), recently received the CPF of the Year Award during the South African Police Services National Excellence Awards recently.
During the awards, her CPF was described as the envy of every police station.
Matthew, who is credited with expanding the CPF to sub-forums and neighbourhood watches, said that their CPF is successful because they collaborate with everyone who can add value to their community and is willing to work with the mandated structures.
“We are humble, we are respectful and the rule of law takes precedence at all times. We don’t criticize our law enforcement publicly, but rather deal with issues constructively, privately and strive to find solutions,” she said.
She said getting community members to selflessly commit themselves, their time, and resources towards assisting their communities is a team effort and their reward is having safer communities.
After the riots in July 2021, the CPF grew as people were no longer complacent and wanted to be proactive in safeguarding their streets, she said.
“It took many hours of our executive committee sacrificing time away from our families to divide the area, set up elections, and then motivate the community to take ownership and form sub-forums and neighbourhood watches. We have a strong social crime and faith-based network that consists of churches, NPOs, and government departments. We share resources and support each other.
“I have the privilege to work with these amazing leaders who have sacrificed so much. I also lead by example, and the Bible is my manual and God is my strength and I am accountable to him first and that makes me a great leader,” she said.
She said she would like to see more metro police on the streets because many issues are by-law infringements that need to be enforced.
“We need the budget increased for the SAPS and more vehicles on the road for visible policing and to bring back more reservists. We need more social workers, many issues become SAPS problems when they are actually social problems,” Matthew said.
Her proud moments include the visibility operations when all the safety structures come together, “it is such an amazing spirit of camaraderie”.
Challenges
She said her most difficult period as a chairperson was the July unrest.
“This was the most painful time in my life. My business was completely looted on the next Monday morning, and I had to wipe the tears and get back to the streets to have meetings with the SAPS, metro, and businesses, and work together with our community to save the other businesses.
“There was no direction from the government and all CPFs in KZN had to step in and keep calm. This went on for a while as threats kept coming of future looting, and every time the CPFs and neighbourhood watches had to prepare with law enforcement to secure our town, but we have overcome all challenges and look forward to some rest.
“The 2022 floods were another devastating time for the South Coast, our neighbours in Isipingo Beach and Prospecton were severely affected. The amazing life-saving community assisted with rescues and our CPF, through our churches and community members, collected food, clothing, and essential items for the victims,” she said.
Matthew had been a Sunday school teacher and mission partner for the scripture union for many years, before joining the CPF and saw first-hand the issues affecting schools, and communities regarding safety.
“Before joining the CPF, I assisted Isipingo SAPS with their social crime programmes at the schools, and by joining the Amanzimtoti CPF, I was able to assist the schools further South,” she said.
The ACPF has also made significant progress in strengthening the relationships between the community, police, and various security companies.
The ACPF executive committee, sub-forums, and neighbourhood watches expressed joy about being crowned the country’s number one.
“We thank Lieutenant-Colonel Riette Kitching, the Vispol commander of SAPS Amanzimtoti for her support and commitment to the CPF mandate. We also thank Constable Leko Gwala, our CPF coordinator for his invaluable support and relationship with patrollers and the community. We thank our security companies for their support both physically on the ground and in training our patrollers. We also thank metro police for their amazing partnership,” the structures said.
Sambulo Biyela, secretary-general of the Community Police Forum Board in KZN, congratulated the Amanzimtoti CPF on winning the award.
He urged other CPFs to document their initiatives and programmes so they have a portfolio of evidence to submit when the application process begins.
The ACPF is no stranger to scooping awards, on September 6, 2024, it was recognised as the top CPF in the eThekwini Metro at the SAPS eThekwini District Excellence Awards.
On September 27, 2024, they received the CPF of the Year Award at the KZN Provincial Visible Policing Excellence Awards.
In November 2024, they walked away with the CPF of the Year Award at the KZN Provincial Excellence Awards.
On how she balances her daily work, the CPF, and family, she said: “I have excellent time management skills and I can also multi-task. Having a supportive husband, children, mother, and family helps me to accomplish my goals. However, I never neglect my duties as a wife and mother. Food is cooked before I leave for an evening meeting,” she said.
Matthew runs a business with her husband, which gives her the flexibility to attend meetings and social crime programmes during the day.
