Note to editors: The following speech was delivered at the Annual Safety and Security Awards held at the Banqueting Hall in the Cape Town Civic Centre. Read more below:

Good evening, Molweni, Goeie Naand, Salaamu-Alaikum, Shalom, Namaste.

Thank you for all taking time out to be with us here tonight. You all do incredible work for the City and for the people of Cape Town. This ceremony is our small way of recognizing all that you do. There are awards for bravery, outstanding service, team of the year, supervisor of the year, department of the year, departmental officers of the year and directorate officer of the year. While these categories do not truly reflect the wide range of invaluable contributions that you make, it is a start in giving recognition where it is due.

For many of you in Safety and Security, this is not just a job but a passion. It is a calling which you keep on returning to because you know that the work you have done on any given day has saved a live, solved a problem, stopped a criminal, undone some community conflict or prevented problems thanks to your intervention.

​​You serve your communities and are recognized by the young people of the City as role-models and leaders in their life. Many young people look to you for inspiration and protection – they respect you and the uniform. Thank you for setting such sterling examples. I appreciate it and the broader Cape Town community appreciates it.

To our dear Events team, thank you too for the hard work you do. I often get praised on what a phenomenal events team we have and I have you to thank for it. Cape Town recently won an international award for its excellence in events and festivals which reflects the level of efficacy in the department. When we went to Singapore to present the Netball World Cup bid, I got to see the calibre of staff we have. If it were not for the efforts of Rowelna and Leonore, we would not have submitted a quality bid proposal.

There is never a quiet year for Safety and Security. In the last year, we can again point to a whole list of achievements, including:

• Our Events team launched a campaign to save the film industry, workshopped a viable strategy with them and then launched the Film CT website
• We launched the Random Breath Testing vehicle
• We expanded the Facility Protection Officers initiative
• The 107 PECC moved from Wale Street to the Goodwood TMC
• Our peace officer powers were expanded
• Cape Town won the Global Events Destination award
• A new fire station was constructed in Masiphumelele
• The Metro Police Strand Street Quarry Depot was established
• The Law Enforcement Auxiliary Service was expanded
• New neighbourhood watch trainers were appointed
• The SSIU was reinstated and confirmed
• The Rail Enforcement Unit was launched
• Our Fire and Rescue Service hosted the vehicle extrication awards
• New fire equipment was procured
• A record ward allocation budget was secured for CCTV and other safety and security interventions
• The Metro Police Department Youth Cadet programme saw their first cadets start working and training
• We took some brave steps towards the 24-hour operationalization of Law Enforcement and Traffic Services
• Our Neighbourhood Safety Team was launched in Delft with little fanfare and is quietly getting on with their work – hopefully a blueprint for 9 more to come
• We expanded the School Resource Officer programme
• We signed a deal with the Western Cape Department of Community Safety about the use of the Chrysalis Academy for training purposes

Perhaps the biggest news of the last year was the water crisis and drought which aimed a lot of bad publicity at the City. But when the Disaster Risk Management Centre stepped in and showed how well-prepared we are for the possibility of Day Zero and water rationing through the Points of Distribution (PODs), we restored much of the public’s confidence.

Oh, and I almost forgot everybody’s favourite good news story – the new Equestrian and K9 unit officers who joined us.

Together, we are a great team of ‘can do’ people. People who make things happen and usually quickly. We are one directorate in this City whose efficacy people do not question. Our challenge remains to secure resources to meet the huge and growing public expectation of us.

I was recently privileged to visit two foreign locations back to back. After the bid presentation in Singapore, I went on alone to Lisbon to collect the World Travel Awards Global Festival and Events Destination accolade. Cape Town was the only African city to be recognised; there were two other awards for resorts – a very exclusive one in Limpopo and one in Mauritius for best private island. But Cape Town was recognised as the best destination in Africa.

On such a trip, it is not possible to miss the fact that things are very different in a place like Singapore. Apart from being very clean and very, very well-run, it is also extremely safe. I was fascinated to observe, while massively jetlagged, as I walked around the river promenade until after midnight, that women could walk alone, with their handbag and cellphone in hand, without a hint of fear.

I kept reflecting on how criminals would be taking advantage if people were that carefree back home. Well, we shouldn’t always need to be on high alert. We should all be able to live like Singaporeans – free and safe and carefree; able to walk and go where we like without fear and concern.

This is a dream that eludes us in South Africa and our City enforcement services will never be able to replace or compensate for the South African Police Service.

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The last time we received a meaningful push with resources was in 2009, ahead of the FIFA World Cup. This year was marked by R66 million in extra resources which helped to plug many gaps. But more importantly, over the next three years, we have been told we can count on large budget allocations every year to grow our capacity and increase our policing and emergency services presence. It is a long-awaited growth in resources that will make a big difference. Let’s make sure we get the money spent, train the staff and that is all about the training college and partnerships with other institutions.

To each and every person in Safety and Security, thank you. You keep on giving people hope to invest in Cape Town which is how we manage to keep on creating jobs. You give people trust to visit here and confidence to live here. Keep on making Cape Town special; special like you!

A list of the recipients is available here.

High resolution photographs are available here.

Note to broadcasters: an audio clip is available for download here.