RESIDENTS, police and prisons officials joined forces publicly for the first time yesterday in an anti- drug march in Hornlee, Knysna, joined by Western Cape Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Alan Winde.

Winde said it was the first time he had seen such a united front against crime.

Knysna businessman Ralph Stander, who grew up in Hornlee and organised the march, said the protest action was just one facet of a much broader initiative to turn the community around.

The marchers, led by a church band, were addressed by Stander, Winde, Knysna police station‘s Commissioner Nolan Michaels, Knysna Correctional Services head Monre Arries and Knysna Senior Secondary School principal Anton Titus.

Winde said a community where drug use prevailed among the youth would permanently remain in poverty because youngsters would not be equipped to enter society and the market place as productive adults.

He said he was proud of Hornlee for taking this initiative.

Michaels said he was committed to making Hornlee a place where “our kids can be safe from drugs and crime”.

He is a past pupil of Knysna Senior Secondary, which is hosting entertainment and food stalls at the Oyster Festival – the first time in 26 years that a township area has hosted an event of this magnitude.

Titus is part of an initiative to clean up Hornlee and an invitation has been extended to past pupils from all over the world to make a contribution to their community.

He said the school must remain the place which produced leaders in the community.

“We are making you aware – stay permanently away from drugs,” said Titus.

Arries said Knysna was one of the places in the Western Cape where drugs were easily available and vowed to form a united front against the social scourge.

For years, Hornlee residents have been frustrated and angered that drug dealers operate with impunity, destroying their children‘s futures and wreaking havoc on their families.

Residents also bear the brunt of violent crimes committed by tik addicts. A number of the speakers also spoke out against rape.

Stander said Hornlee residents were hosting members of the Proudly Manenberg campaign, which had turned the Cape Town area around from being a “gangster and drug-ridden hell-hole” to a place where people could walk in the streets.

This could also be achieved in Hornlee and local residents hoped to learn from the Proudly Manenberg campaign, he added.

Stander and Winde agreed the march should become an annual event that could grow to encompass the entire Knysna community and thanked the MEC for being a member of the government who was accessible to the public.