The term “Walking Bus” is a foreign phrase to most people. It was initially started by the City of Cape Town to ensure safer, supervised trips to and from school for Cape Town learners who are put at risk by gang-related activity. Adults accompany school children to and from schools on foot to protect them from the harsh and violent reality of their everyday lives. But outside of the Cape Flats, it is a relatively unknown concept.
The Lentegeur East Walking Bus in the Western Cape’s Mitchells Plain is the shining star of all Walking Buses. This “Bus” of volunteers provides hope to a community plagued with gang violence. Brave women and men, almost all of them older than the standard retirement age, sacrifice sleep and their own safety to patrol their besieged streets every morning to guide their children to school and ensure their safety. They are the role models for this community’s future generations.
This initiative grew from the Lentegeur Neighbourhood Watch, a self-starting and motivated community organisation.
Around 60 volunteer members start their daily patrols at 5:30 AM, in the dark, when most community members are still fast asleep or just beginning to get ready for the day. By the time the sun rises over the horizon, their patrols are already well underway.
The Neighbourhood Watch work day and night, spreading their forces to cover as much ground as possible. In 2016, they launched their Walking Bus and have been escorting the community’s children to school and back home on streets where getting caught in the crossfire of gang shootouts is a daily concern.
In October 2024 Action Society and the Czech Embassy handed over a 12 square metre container which served as the main gathering point for the Lentegeur Neighbourhood Watch. This replaced their previous small wendy house, which could barely fit three chairs and a rickety table. The new “headquarters”, jokingly referred to as “Upper Constantia” because it is such a big upgrade, was also kitted out with bright spotlights and a camera system to make the area safer. Members were stocked with batons, flashlights and two-way radios, along with durable shoes, shirts, pants and high-visibility vests to help them deliver a much-needed service to the community. The container, situated on the grounds of the Cornflower Primary School, is not only a place for volunteers to congregate but a beacon of safety and inspiration for the whole community.
Action Society gladly supports the Lentegeur Neighbourhood Watch and Walking Bus because they have shown that they are willing to protect their community and will use all available resources to that end.
Lentegeur East is an extraordinary tale of how a tiny community in Mitchells Plain has become one of the vanguards of community safety. The Lentegeur East Neighbourhood Watch should be an example to all communities in South Africa to step out of their fear and comfort zones and step up to make a difference exactly where they are. Theirs is a lesson of how strong even the smallest communities can be when they work together for a common cause. With minimal resources and an environment more hostile than most can imagine, this group has become a company of heroes.
