Skip to main content
Farming South Africa community watch group

Forming a Farming Community Watch Group in South Africa

Due to the many safety concerns within the farming communities of South Africa, forming local farming community watch groups has been a popular method of keeping an eye out for any potential threats in the area.

Through initiatives where communities come together with the common goal of keeping their families and possessions safe, a chain of communication and awareness is created to promote safety among local farmers and their employees alike. Here are a few tips to creating a successful community watch group in your area, and on what gear you may require for additional safety of volunteers. You can also use these tips to boost the effectiveness of existing community watch initiatives, especially if they don’t have the kit they need yet.

 

Get Connected and Recruit Volunteers

In order to start a community watch group you will need to connect with your neighbours in a given area to find out whether there is any interest in forming the initiative. Should there be sufficient interest you will need to organise a central gathering point and invite neighbours for a meeting to discuss logistics, strategies, and other details.

Ensure you include everyone in this invitation as anyone can become involved, they can become anything from a coordinator to an active patrol officer. You can get connected with neighbours through social media community groups or by leaving your contact details with a local farming supplier who may be willing to display an informative flyer.

Reach Out to Local Law Enforcement for Advice

Any form of collaboration with the local police would be beneficial in forming your community watch group. You can approach local law enforcement officials for advice and to make them aware of the community’s desire to form a security network. Although you may be forming a watch group due to dissatisfaction with the local law enforcement, it is still wise to make an attempt at collaboration through continuous communication to remind them of the needs of your community.

Form a Communication Strategy

Communication is the key to a successful community watch initiative, volunteers will need to form a solid communication strategy in order to ensure a seamless process should anything go wrong. Should the area’s radius allow for radio communication? Investing in walkie-talkie devices is a good idea to keep everyone involved and up to date with potential threats and any developments. You can also have monthly meetings set up in order to collaborate with everyone on a continuous basis.

Gear Up

Lastly, in order to boost the safety of all volunteers, you should get in contact with agricultural services and products directories in order to find supplies and gear to enhance your security solution. A good place to start would be Ballistic Body Armour, for custom-designed protection equipment made suitable for any scenario. There is a general bullet resistant body armour range perfect for community watch groups and farmers which provides the perfect solution for the safety of your volunteers.

Through a diverse, premier agricultural services and products directory, you can get in contact with farming suppliers as well as gear to maximise your security solutions. Visit the Agrifood SA directory for access to all the agricultural services and products you will ever need.

Archived Posts

2024 (1)
2023 (1)
2022 (1)
2021 (1)
2020 (1)
2019 (1)
2018 (1)
2017 (1)
Farming Suppliers | Contact Agricultural Services and Products | farming South Africa