The bad blood that led to the demise of the old Plumstead Neighbourhood Watch committee will not taint the new one, says its chairman.
Avian Bell, 23, heads the committee introduced during a meeting at the Southfield library hall on Tuesday April 23.
The meeting was chaired by Ursula Schenker, vice chairperson of the community police forum. More than 100 people attended, including representatives from Diep River SAPS, the Department of Community Safety, watch volunteers and residents. Other committee members are vice chair Sylvia Buchanan, treasurer Samantha Vorster and operations manager Justin De Vos.
The watch had hoped to elect someone to the position of secretary at Tuesday’s meeting but no one was willing to stand.
The new committee is a temporary one until the AGM next year. Mr Bell said it was unclear why the previous committee had dissolved but he said personal vendettas, differences between committee members and loss of support from SAPS and law enforcement had played a hand.
He promised that the turmoil that had dogged the old committee was a thing of the past and that while he and his fellow committee members were young, they had fresh ideas and would use social media to improve communication.
“I’d like to assure everyone that we are level headed young professionals,” he said, urging the community to work with the new committee.