AfriForum has built a crime-fighting machine

AfriForum supports 177 neighbourhoods and farm watches across the country in their fight against crime and to improve community safety.

This was revealed by AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel, who spoke about the organisation’s finances and how it spends the money.

Kriel previously explained that they get around R22.6 million from 300,000 AfriForum members each month.

The organisation spends most of this money on safety, community development, court cases, and private prosecutions.

One of its focus areas is safety, as the South African Police Service has become so weak that the country is facing a severe crime problem.

To assist with community safety, AfriForum operates two control rooms in Centurion and Bloemfontein, which are open 24 hours a day.

This initiative also includes an emergency response coordination and free panic buttons for AfriForum members.

As part of the community safety initiative, it has a nationwide camera network for monitoring and response.

To train people to protect their communities, it has developed 33 training modules through which it has trained 10,000 volunteers.

AfriForum has also done training for approximately 100 pilots who regularly support the South African Police Service during operations.

It uses drones as part of its nationwide neighbourhood watch patrols, where support for on-the-ground personnel is necessary.

The organisation has further purchased 1,497 bulletproof vests, many response vehicles, and 8,904 two-way radios.

It has also created a network of 71 repeaters, which helps facilitate communication among community members.

AfriForum is also investing in legal cases to further its causes and has created a private prosecution unit.

“Court cases cost millions of rands. They are expensive but necessary. AfriForum is currently involved in approximately 80 active court cases,” Kriel said.

“AfriForum’s private prosecution unit under the leadership of Adv. Gerrie Nel has already taken on more than 320 cases.”

Some of the victories include the disclosure of Eskom contracts and action against NERSA’s secrecy about Eskom tariff increases.

The organisation has also challenged unfair tariffs in the Cape Town and Tshwane metros and took legal action to protect Afrikaans schools.

“AfriForum is grateful for the overwhelming support that the organisation receives to make this possible,” Kriel said.

“This shows that smaller contributions by thousands of ordinary people make it possible to build a better present and future on a larger scale.”