Question NW1667 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services

Reply:

1. (a) Community Prosecutors are seasoned legal professionals who engage with local communities and relevant stakeholders to address the public safety concerns of a local community. Therefore, the Community Prosecution Initiative is a partnership between prosecutors, communities, law enforcement, NGOs and local authorities.

Community Prosecution Initiatives engage the community to identify local public safety challenge, develop and implement solutions to address these concerns and/or community irritants.

The Community Prosecution Initiative takes a victim-centric approach, prioritising the needs of victims of crime and the most vulnerable. The initiative provides practical services to local and disadvantaged communities through awareness raising, developing lasting solutions to ongoing crime problems and partnering with community-based organisations, local government and the SAPS.

(b) Community Prosecutors assist communities in building safer neighborhoods by

jointly developing solutions on ongoing forms of public safety concerns, including serious and violent crimes. Community Prosecutors assist their court-based colleagues to prosecute more strategically by targeting crime syndicates, criminals and repeat offenders. In addition, this approach will also assist in removing less serious cases from the court rolls (by implementing solutions for community irritants) to allow for increased court time for serious cases to be dealt with.

Community Prosecutors work with relevant stakeholders to develop crime prevention interventions, focusing on quality-of-life crimes, while also engaging in public education and information programmes.

2. (a) Nine (9) out of eleven (11) posts advertised are currently filled. These

permanently appointed officials on Senior Public Prosecutor level, are responsible as provincial coordinators, to oversee current implemented sites, facilitate stakeholder cooperation, manage the identification and implementation of new sites (a minimum of 3 new sites per division for the current financial year) and ensure impact delivery of all sites.

There are also Community Prosecutors appointed on a rotational basis who do Community Prosecutions work, over and above their daily prosecution work. These rotational Community Prosecutors are managed and their functions co-ordinated by the permanent Community Prosecutors.

2(b) The following table depicts the Division, Office, Site and Community Initiative type currently rolled out within the NPA:

Division	Office	Site	Initiative
Eastern Cape	Gelvandale	Gelvandale	Gender-Based Violence and Substance Abuse
Eastern Cape	Motherwell	Motherwell	Substance & Drug Abuse
Eastern Cape	East London	East London	Liquor Outlets
Eastern Cape: Mthatha	Butterworth	Msobomvu	Gender-Based violence
Eastern Cape: Mthatha	Mthatha	Ngangelizwe	Gender-Based violence
Free State	Bloemfontein	Bloemfontein	Substance & Drug Abuse
Free State	Sasolburg	Sasolburg	Substance & Drug Abuse
Gauteng North	Mamelodi	Mamelodi	Gender-based violence
Gauteng North	Vaalrand	Brakpan	Gender-based violence
Gauteng South	Alexandra	Alexandra	Liquor Outlets
Gauteng South	Kliptown (Eldorado Park)	Kliptown (Eldorado Park)	Substance & Drug Abuse
Gauteng South	Johannesburg	Hillbrow	Substance & Drug Abuse
KwaZulu-Natal	Pietermaritzburg	Plessislaer	Reduction of Assaults
KwaZulu-Natal	Umzinto	Umzinto	Reduction of Assaults & Domestic Violence
Limpopo	Giyani	Giyani	Gender-Based Violence
Limpopo	Mankweng	Mankweng	Gender-Based Violence
Mpumalanga	Ermelo	Ermelo	Stock Theft
Mpumalanga	White River	Msholozi	Gender-Based Violence
North-West	Molopo District Court	Molopo	Stock Theft
North-West	Odi	Moretele	Stock Theft
North-West	Ikageng (Potchefstroom)	Klerksdorp	Stock Theft
Northern Cape	Kuruman	Kuruman	Gender-Based Violence
Northern Cape	Phutanang Kimberley	Galeshewe	Gender-Based Violence
Western Cape	Wynberg	Browns Farm	Gender-Based Violence
Western Cape	Bellville	Delft	Gender-Based Violence

These officials are currently located in the respective DPP offices in the divisions. Currently, there are 25 Community Prosecution Initiatives rolled-out within the NPA. Out of the 25 initiatives that are already confirmed and running, the majority relate to Gender-Based Violence (14) followed by Substance and Drug Abuse (5), and Stock Theft (3), Reduction of Assaults (1) and Liquor Outlets (2), respectively.