STREET COMMITTEES

Does a Street/Block Committee Belong to any Political Party?

NO IT DOES NOT BELONG TO ANY POLITICAL PARTY and is nonpartisan which means that it does not support or will give ANY party preference over the other and neither should it allow political figures a platform to popularise or recruit party members. A street/block committee MUST unite around issues affecting it’s street, block or neighbourhood and can therefore not be aligned to any political party, neither should it be open for use or abuse by any party or political figure.

Who cannot join or be part of a street/block committee?

• Any person who is residing outside of Bonteheuwel;
• Any resident on a particular street or block whom the community deem destructive to the community or neighbourhood in particular;
• Any resident who is part of a gang;
• Any resident who sells drugs;
• Any resident involved in any legal or illegal business that is destructive to our community safety, health or environment;
• Any resident who is part of or condones Violence Against Women And Children;
• Any resident who puts the lives of those on the street/block committee or neighbourhood in danger.
• Any resident who is working against the aims and objections of the street/block committee or Bonteheuwel Development Forum.

What are our blocks and how is it demarcated?

1	A Block – Alsweg to Bessieweg (From Shell Garage to Kaybees)	9	R  Block – Rosewood PS to Protea PS (1st Safraan)
2	B Block 1 – Boekenhout, Bracken, Boxwood to Blombos Border	10	S Block – Protea PS from Sequoia to Syringa Borders Boundary PS
3	B Block 2 – Blombos to Borriehout (Behind Clinic)	11	T Block – Taaibos to Turksvy, Teak and Terblanche
4	CD Block  – From Citrus along Dissel Rd  Borders to Jakkalsvlei Ave	12	VY Block – Vlamboom, Vyeboom,v Yellowood, Vuurpyl
5	EFGH Block – Elder, Essenhout, Date Palm. Camelia Part Incl Firethorn, Hardepeer, Geelhout Gras, Huilbos	13	MNOP Block – Mulberry, Pampas, Peacan, Poinsettia, Netreg, etc
6	IJ Block – Smarty Town, Ironwood, Jasmine Juniper Jakkalsvliei (Masjid to Baths)	14	Kreefgat/Galden Gate
7	K Block- Kameelboom, Kersboom Keur	15	Kalksteenfontein 1
8	ML Block – Medlar, Melkhout, Lepelhout, Leadwood, Larch, Juniper and Kiaat to BH Ave to Robot Border	16	Kalksteenfontein 2

What are the functions of Street/Block Committees?

• To keep their streets and residents safe;

• To keep our residents and children safe on their way to and from school, work or from errands, on play grounds or in public spaces in our neighbourhoods;

• To ensure that our immediate and public environment is maintained, kept clean and safe;

• To have regular monthly meetings to address current and ongoing issues; such as safety, health, learning and education, housing, sports, violence against women and children, gangsterism, abuse, poverty, inequality, etc.

• To engage in fundraising and or economic activity that will assist the street or block committee in achieving their goals as set out in their yearly plans;

• To elect representatives to represent their street/block committee to serve on and report back to the street/block committee on the mother body the Bonteheuwel Development Forum and other relevant stakeholder forums;

How often are Street/Block Committee Officials elected?

Officials MUST be elected once every 2 years.

Can officials be re-elected once they finished their 2 year term?

• For the sake of continuity, growth, leadership building and succession planning no more than 30% of officials can be re-elected;

• This means that if three people are re-elected the new committee will have officials who served the previous term who would know of decisions taken in the previous term, how the committee went about doing things on issues taken up in the neighbourhood, what things are still outstanding and what needs improvement on;

• That new people are given the chance to take up leadership roles on their committee;

How are officials elected?

• A street/block committee AGM must be called;

• Notification of this Meeting (Date, Time, Venue and Agenda) should go out to all members in your street/block either via word of mouth, pamphlet and/or social media notice at least two weeks before the time;

• The Street Committee mother body, the Bonteheuwel Development Forum should be notified and asked to delegate two representatives from other street/block committees to officiate the elections part of the AGM.

What happens in the event of an elected official resigning from his/her post or fails to fulfil his/her duties before the 2 year term ends?

• Should this be the case, the executive MUST call a general street/block committee meeting of all members in which members will democratically decide by way of consensus or vote who the replacement office bearer/s shall be.

• The replacement officers’ term shall come to an end at the next AGM.

What are official posts and their roles and responsibilities of it?

	Post	Roles and Responsibilities
1	Chairperson	1) Chairs all street/block committee meetings; 2) Is one of the 2 official representatives of the Bonteheuwel Development Forum; 3)  Co-signs together with the treasurer and secretary on any expenditures
2	Secretary	1) Records Minutes of the meetings 2) Keeps records of meetings; 3) Reads minutes of the previous meetings; 4) Together with the chairperson is responsible for correspondence of the street/block committee; 5) Is one of the 2 official representatives of the Bonteheuwel Development Forum 6)  Co-signs together with the chairperson and treasurer on any expenditures
3	Treasurer	1) Deals with the finances of the committee; 2)  Fundraise for the street committee yearly plan; 3) Keeps financial records of the committee; 4) Gives regular monthly reports to the committee; 5) Keeps funds of the committee safe and secure 6) Co-signs together with the chairperson and secretary on any expenditures
4	Safety Liaison Officer	1) To liaise with any stakeholder be it the municipality, law enforcement, SAPS, schools, etc with regard to issues of safety be it an open drain, unsafe walk ways, speed bumps, violence, bullying; fires, etc. 2) To spearhead and lead on issues of safety enhancement in your block to getting training and development on the issue, 3) circulating much needed emergency contact lists, following up on unresolved issues; 4) Keep records and reports to committee on current and solved issues, developments, learning and successes.
5	Health And Environment Liaison Officer	1) To liaise and co-ordinate with Omega Community Health Care Workers and Sisters to organise our monthly block primary health care clinics; 2)  To liaise with stakeholders be it the department of health, department of social services, municipality, law enforcement, SAPS, schools, etc with regard to issues of health and environment be it poor service delivery at hospitals or clinics, medical emergencies, dumping, copper wire burning; fires, etc. 3) To spearhead and lead on issues of health and environment enhancement in your block to getting training and development on the issue, circulating much needed emergency contact lists, following up on unresolved issues; 4) keep records and report to committee on current and resolved issues, developments, learning and successes.
6	Sports And Recreation Liaison Officer	1) To liaise with stakeholders be it the •local sports clubs, arts and culture clubs, department of parks and recreation, department of sports culture, municipality, schools, etc with regard to issues of sports and recreation be it maintenance of parks, fields and public spaces, tournaments, sports clinics, arts and culture events, etc. 2) To spearhead and lead on issues of sports and recreation enhancement in your block to getting training and development on the issue, circulating much needed learning and job opportunities in the various fields, following up on unresolved issues; 3) keep records and report to committee on current and resolved issues, developments, learning and successes.
7	Education and Learning Liaison Officer	1) To liaise with stakeholders be it the local schools, crèches, TVET colleges, universities, organisations, departments of Basic and Higher Education, SETAS, Businesses, etc with regard to issues of education and learning be it maintenance and improvement of schools, library, community programmes ,learning programmes, learnerships, workshops, night school, crèches, etc. 2) To liaise with schools, SGB’s, law enforcement and parents to truancy (bunking), after school programmes, reading and numeracy programmes, etc. 3) To spearhead and lead on issues of training, education and learning enhancement in your block to getting training and development on various issues and in various fields, circulating much needed learning and job opportunities in the various fields, 4) following up on unresolved issues; 5) keep records and report to committee on current and resolved issues, developments, learning and successes.
8	Civic Liaison Officer	1) To liaise with stakeholders be it municipality, Sub-Council the City Of Cape Town, organisations, Department of Water and Sanitation, Law Enforcement, etc with regard to civic issues be it maintenance and improvement of roads, rental stock, library, water and sanitation, electricity, housing, land, property, refuge removal, etc. 2) To spearhead and lead on issues of community and service delivery enhancement in your block to getting training and development on various issues and in various fields, circulating a contact list of emergency contact numbers for issues pertaining to civic matters and service delivery; following up on unresolved issues; 3) keep records and report to committee on current and resolved issues, developments, learning and successes.
9	Safety Liaison Officer	1) To liaise with stakeholders be it with families and victims, Saps, Department of Social Services, Department of Justice, City Of Cape Town, organisations, legal services, etc with regard to violence against women and children be it safety of women and children, trauma counselling, places of safety for women and children, 2) Combating violence against women and children, liaising with the parole board to parole of known sexual offenders, etc. 3) To spearhead and lead on combating violence against women and children in your block to getting training and development on gender based violence, trauma counselling, safety, equality, etc. 4) Following up on unresolved issues; 5) Keep records and report to committee on current and resolved issues, developments, learning and successes

What happens to street/block committee resources should the committee cease to exist?

• In the case of a street/block committee ceasing to exist and no other members are willing to revive the street/block committee all resources be it cash, equipment or any assets should be handed over to the mother body for safekeeping for at least a year should the street/block committee be revived;
• In the event of the committee failing to revive itself, all resources will be donated to another street/block committee in need of such resources.