Violence Prevention Through Urban Upgrading

There are three main aims are Social Crime Prevention; Situational Crime Prevention; and Institutional Crime Prevention. This therefore includes constructing safe public spaces; supporting and strengthening social crime prevention; and training, mentoring and providing access to economic opportunities for residents. Projects which have been implemented under this initiative include constructing walkways, sports centres and parks and Active Boxes (24hour recreation centres which help to improve the safety of a certain area); patrolling cooperatives; free Legal Aid for Civil Matters; Cultural development (including sports, computer, and music centres; and crèches); capacity-building including training the trainers on organisational development; and local economic development, including developing the Nlazane Traders Association, and assisting spaza shops in areas across Khayelitsha. Monitoring and evaluation is carried out on an ongoing basis, to assess both objective reductions in crime (reduction in number of crimes); and subjective perceptions of crime (whether people feel safer; and which areas they still feel unsafe in).

Innovation

The project employs a holistic approach to making the area safer, focusing on crime reduction, social development, and capacity-building.
Effectiveness: After three years, the public perception of safety rose from 2.8 to 4.3 (with 1 being totally unsafe; and 10 being completely safe); 1417 people have attended skills-level training courses; 13 crèches have been supported; 53 community projects have been funded; a gender-based violence satellite office and legal aid centre have been opened; 92 people have attended conflict resolution training; 236 volunteers conduct patrols in areas (roughly 18 000 patrols by March 2009); and 7 capital projects have been completed (2 community centres, 1 urban park, sports fields), while a further 4 are under construction.

Poverty Impact

A number of businesses have been established or supported, including welders, informal traders (including the development of the Ntlazane Trader Association), mosaic artists, and contractors. This has helped to provide an income, and make industry more formal within the area. 

Sustainability

The majority of the funding is sourced from the German Development Bank (Kfw), and the expected total contribution is R117.6m. Discussions are also underway to extend the project for another period starting 2011. A number of other funders are also involved, including R310m from NPDG for 10 years; R30m Municipal Infrastructure Grant for 2009/10; R8.5m from DBSA for a three-year period; US$3m from Carnegie Corporation to develop 2 libraries; and US$300 000 from FIFA to develop a Football for Hope centre. The total project budget is estimated at around R494.5m.

Replication

Similar projects could be initiated in other high-crime areas, and this would be a worthwhile project considering the massive crime rates in the country. It is also more likely that initiatives such as this will be more effective than simply hiring more police to patrol an area. However, it will require significant funding, and buy-in from government and local community members, in order for the project to be effective. Thus it is likely that these sorts of projects will only be initiated by City Municipalities, or other large groups which can access substantial funding. The ongoing monitoring and evaluation carried out by the project does, however, make it easier for other groups to replicate, as it can outline best practice, and initiatives which were unsuccessful.

Partnerships

•    National Treasury – National Partnership Development Grant; City of Cape Town
•    AHT Group AG; German Development Bank

Visit www.vpuu.org for more infromation