The Gauteng Finance MEC, Lebogang Maile, has confirmed that his department will collaborate with the Department of Community Safety to establish a new funding model for the training of the recently disbanded Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens, popularly known as ‘Amapanyaza’.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of a meeting with provincial tourism stakeholders, where MEC Maile addressed concerns over public safety following the unit’s disbandment. He identified the tourism sector as a strategic pillar for economic growth and acknowledged crime as a major hindrance to its development.
Maile sought to assure stakeholders that crime-fighting remains a top priority for the provincial government. He explained that any program, including the reintegration of the wardens, requires a formal budgetary process.
“There is no way that a program can be implemented if it’s not budgeted for,” Maile stated. “We have decisively intervened in the last two years by increasing the budget of community safety from around 700 million to about 2.3 billion. And that’s where the traffic wardens were funded from.”
He confirmed that the plan to “repose” the wardens is moving forward, noting, “Maile will work with his counterpart in the community safety department on the financial support that will go towards the training of crime prevention wardens.”
In response to concerns about fiscal responsibility, the MEC gave a firm assurance: “I can assure the public that we will never redirect money from important services like education and health and social development… Our interest at all times is to protect the most vulnerable in society.”
The urgency of the safety issue was starkly highlighted by Judy Nwokedi, Board Chairperson of the Gauteng Tourism Authority. She raised serious safety concerns, citing her own harrowing experience upon arriving at O.R. Tambo International Airport the previous night.
“Safety and security concerns, MEC, we need a serious conversation,” Nwokedi asserted. She described being approached by at least 15 men immediately upon exiting the arrivals hall. “The harassment is relentless,” she said, detailing how they followed her despite her protests, all the way to her waiting Uber. “For any woman landing at O.R. Tambo, it is not a pleasant experience.”
While the new model for the wardens is developed, MEC Maile indicated the province would look to existing police structures to help fight crime in the interim. He further assured the public that the provincial budget would not be compromised as the warden issue is resolved.
The provincial government remains optimistic about its economic growth targets, with the tourism sector seen as a key strategic avenue. The next provincial investment conference is scheduled for April next year.
