HPP Newsletter - November 2024
Keeping our community safe and clean, together
Festive greetings to all,
Welcome to the November edition of the Hermanus Public Protection (HPP) Newsletter! Here’s the latest update for property owners in the Hermanus Special Rating Area (HSRA).
Highlights from November:
- Community engagement: Successful meetings held with residents in Northcliff and Hermanus Heights.
- Community appreciation: Ocean Basket treated the HPP patrol and control room teams to a special lunch to acknowledge their hard work.
- Project progress: The Kwaaiwater Camera Project is officially underway, with three more sites to be installed in the coming months.
- Commendations: SAPS and the Hermanus Neighbourhood Watch Group commended HPP’s planning for the Festive Season period.
Festive Safety and Cleansing Plan
As we approach the bustling festive season, HPP is ramping up operations to ensure a safe and clean environment for all. From 1 December 2024 to 15 January 2025, we will implement our festive plan with extended patrols and services. We are encouraged by the compliments received, in this regard, from SAPS and the Hermanus Neighbourhood Watch Group.
In addition to our regular visible patrols and camera monitoring service, we will extend the Cliff Path and Hoy’s Koppie foot patrols to commence at 05h30 to 20h00 every day in high traffic areas. Additional Public Safety Patrol officers will also be visible in the CBD during the festive season.
Our control room will continue monitoring our extensive camera network and coordinating responses, including assistance from other emergency services when needed.
HPP Cleansing services will include additional cleansing services on public holidays, the Day of Reconciliation, Day of Goodwill and New Years Day.
Safety Tips:
Festive season message – Sharp Eyes and Stay Wise
It’s the time of year when we all wind down, relax and enjoy a well-deserved break. But it’s also the period when most of our incidents occur.
Our monitoring and patrolling teams will remain on full alert – yet we rely on and appreciate your – and your visitors – vigilance and extra thought to check your personal and property security. Help us to help you stay safe!
Three key messages:
- Fully secure your home, accommodation, car and personal belongings. During the holiday period, please remain vigilant and ensure your home is secured, even if you are just popping out for a quick walk.
- Always check doors, windows and alarm systems – ensure your home and garage are locked and alarm is activated
- Be extremely vigilant when carrying and using valuables – wallets, handbags, cell phones, cameras, cash and credit cards. Be alert while in public spaces and remain aware of your surroundings. Should you notice any suspicious activity, please contact HPP immediately, providing a detailed description of the incident.
Together we can make this work!
Community Meetings
As part of HPPs improved communications with our residents, we are organising regular direct meetings with groups in all our defined areas.
The first of these were held during November. We encourage all HSRA residents to air their views and become involved with us in this way.
On 10 November, we attended a Northcliff Residents meeting. HPP Director and Northcliff representative Peter Doble, along with the Executive Officer, Marcia Bown provided updates, including the exciting announcement of a new thermal camera scheduled for installation in early 2025. This advanced technology will enhance surveillance over Northcliff, the Fernkloof contour path, the cemetery, municipal utilities, and parts of Eastcliff.
Later the same week, HPP participated in the Hermanus Heights Village Association (HHVA) meeting, which was also well attended. HPP Director Ann Wright, representing Hermanus Heights, and the Executive Officer shared insights into HPP’s services, discussed the extension of the HSRA, and addressed specific concerns raised by residents.
Pat Redford also presented at the HHVA meeting, on behalf of the Hermanus Baboon Action Group (HBAG). She emphasised the pressing need to secure funding for the baboon monitoring program, which is set to end in June 2025.
For more information, contact info@hermanusbaboons.co.za
Baboon Safety Reminder:
With increased waste during the festive season, please:
- Secure bins at all times.
- Inform visitors about the risk of baboon incursions.
- Remove bird feeders and sugar water bottles.
- Protect vegetable gardens.
Ocean Basket Treats the HPP Team
A heartfelt thank you to Gideon and Michele Serfontein of Ocean Basket for hosting the HPP patrol and control room teams for a festive lunch! Their kind words and recognition of HPP’s dedication is truly appreciated. This is the second consecutive year Ocean Basket has treated us to a delicious fish feast.
Extract from HPP’s daily operational reports
Routine activities included monitoring and addressing concerns such as suspicious individuals, illegal car guards, and beggars; reporting open gates and garage doors to property owners; notifying OM Law Enforcement and HAWS of dogs off leashes; reporting intoxicated individuals to Law Enforcement and SAPS; reporting blocked drains to the municipality; intervening in fights within the CBD; alerting environmental authorities about poachers; and cleaning up rubbish around overflowing bins.
Notable incidents included:
- Identifying and deterring suspicious individuals following tourists via CCTV and on-ground patrols.
- Apprehending three teens who stole clothing and handing them over to SAPS.
- Reporting and facilitating the removal of an illegal structure in the bushes.
- Intervening in an attempted robbery of a vagrant, who declined to press charges.
Thanks and Season’s Greetings
HPP extends warm thanks to our colleagues in the Overstrand Municipality, SAPS, the Neighbourhood Watch Groups, the environmental authorities, Fidelity ADT, WCC Technologies and Iphupha Cleansing for the good cooperation we enjoy in our various tasks.
We also thank HSRA property owners, the business community, the various church and community groups as well as members of the public, for their amazing support.
On behalf of the HPP Board and our Executive Officer, I wish you all a safe and joyful festive season.
Our next newsletter will be published at the end of January 2025.
As always, HPP urges our readers to remain vigilant and to be safe.
Jerry van Niekerk
HPP Chair
E-Mail: chairperson@hpp.org.za
Website: https://hpp.org.za