AfriForum trains 19 new proto team members in Bloemfontein, puts new custom shooting range into use

AfriForum’s thirteenth proto team course – and the first to be offered in Bloemfontein – was finalised this weekend. Nineteen AfriForum neighbourhood watch members from Bloemfontein and the Nottingham Road neighbourhood watch in KwaZulu-Natal, who were specially selected for this week-long course, have successfully completed their training. They now add their names to the more than 220 specialised neighbourhood watch members, known as proto team members, who have thus far been trained by AfriForum’s Community Safety Division.

A new AfriForum shooting range, set up by local AfriForum members and located on the outskirts of the city, was also put into use for the first time during this course. The shooting range was designed specifically for the training purposes of AfriForum’s neighbourhood watch members and has customised facilities for honing neighbourhood watch members’ shooting skills. On this unique shooting range, AfriForum’s specialist neighbourhood watch members were subjected to realistic simulations with obstacles such as barbed wire, cement blocks, barriers and vehicle wrecks.

Proto team members’ specialised training gives them an edge in terms of, among other things, community safety, tactical firearms handling, practical self-defence, bleeding control, various relevant legal aspects, crime scene operation, setting up traffic control points and evacuation under fire. The course also focuses on gathering information, setting up effective observation points and radio use.

Proto teams function as response teams for AfriForum’s neighbourhood watches to respond quickly and efficiently as units to emergency situations where community safety is threatened. In-depth training for these members is therefore essential.

According to Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s Chief Spokesperson for Community Safety, the proto team course is tough and set up in such a way as to prepare members for challenging crime-related situations that they may be confronted with. For example, members must successfully complete a series of night shooting drills. As part of these sessions, flashing lights and burning car tyres are used to disorientate prospective proto team members and make the exercise as realistic as possible.

“These types of drills, where members have to function under pressure and shoot with live ammunition, expose them to situations they can expect in real life. We must offer realistic, efficient and safe training at all times,” says Broodryk. “Our proto team members often find themselves in similar situations and it is encouraging to see how these members already master these skills during their training and keep their heads level in challenging circumstances.”

AfriForum has thus far already trained more than 220 proto team members who play an active role nationwide in AfriForum’s 177 neighbourhood and farm watch structures. Nearly 11 000 volunteers are involved in these structures.

Get involved with your local AfriForum neighbourhood watch today. Visit www.afriforumbuurtwag.co.za for more information.