Cape community leaders join ties to form new missing persons unit

As we highlight Child Protection Week this month, another missing persons unit is about to be launched in the coming weeks.

This year’s commemoration is being observed under the theme: “Protecting South African Children, 30 years on.”

Living up to that theme, five community leaders teamed up to form what is named The Collective. The unit will be stationed at Lentegeur Police Station, in Mitchell’s Plain.

Emergency First Aid Responder training is being conducted. Image supplied

The leadership of The Collective includes Byron De Villiers, Lynn Phillips, Abie Isaacs, Sandy Schuter and Lucinda Evans.

De Villiers, who is also the chairperson of the Lentegeur Community Policing Forum explained why they decided to team up to help find missing persons:

LESSONS LEARNT

“We particularly looked at how the Joslin (Smith) case was handled. We identified that a lot went wrong with that search from the get-go. It was then decided that we would recruit 50 people, and train and equip those members the proper way,” said De Villiers.

the collective missing perons unit — Image supplied

He added the training involves the Standard Operating Procedure for the missing persons unit, the Children’s Act, and all the relevant protocols.

UNIT NOT CONFINED TO ANY SPECIFIC AREAS

Furthermore, De Villiers confirmed that the unit will not be restricted to only finding missing persons in the Cape Flats, but wherever the need is.

The new unit will officially be launched in June.