Hi all

 

This newsletter is a brief update on the SFPO Association SFPO NPC (Non-Profit Company for the SRA).

In this newsletter, there are links to two new videos. In the first video, Wayne Furphy talks about the differences between the SFPO Association and the SFPO NPC.

In the second video, David Truter, who has responsibility for of the SFPO NPC’s CCTV cameras and security, gives us some insight into the CCTV infrastructure and monitoring. He also elaborates on how effective they have proven to be since they were installed in early 2019.

What are the differences between the SFPO Association and the SFPO NPC?

In essence, the SFPO Association is the ‘ratepayers association’ for St Francis Bay. At the same time, the SFPO NPC is a non-profit company set up to administer the Special Rating Area (SRA).

Membership for the SFPO Association is voluntary, but it is recommended because a strong ratepayers association is instrumental in monitoring and influencing service delivery from the Municipality. The SFPO Association provides many benefits to homeowners, including the promotion of ratepayer’s interests (aesthetics, land-use, environmental issues…), input to municipal policies, community policing and support, including feeding the needy in our area, local communication, and further collaboration with other local organisations like the Riparians, the Kromme River Committee, the Disaster Volunteer Group, the Kromme Eco-Trust, the Tourism Association, Rotary, etc.

With regards to the SFPO NPC, if you own a property in the demarcated SRA area, you pay the SRA levy as part of your municipal invoice from the Kouga Local Municipality, and you by rights a member of the NPC.

The SRA levy is used to fund three key projects, being the CCTV Cameras (security), Roads, and the Long Term Beach Restoration Project (river, spit and beach).

They are both essential to the restoration of our town. The SFPO Association is currently on a membership drive, as membership runs from October 1 – September 30 each year.

For more on the differences between the two, watch the video with Wayne here

Security and Cameras

David Truter leads our portfolio of CCTV cameras and Chairs the St Francis Bay Police Sector Forum for security.

The SFPO NPC installed the cameras in early 2019. Crime had been escalating at that time. 18 months later crime has been radically reduced as a result.

For example, we have four LPR’s or license plate recognition cameras. In one month we had 250,000 license plates recognised and 11 activations, which means that those 11 licence plate numbers were on the SAPS database of wanted vehicles.

For more on security and cameras, watch the video with David here