Johannesburg — AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) heavyweight Cyril Ramaphosa and Graça Machel, wife of former president Nelson Mandela, have called for a return to the strong community leadership of the early 1990s in a bid to address crime.

Speaking at the Convention for a Safer SA in Midrand yesterday, Machel told representatives from 300 civil organisations that the government needed to do more to build community leadership.

"In my opinion this is something government has not done well," she said.

"And I am not talking about local government, I am talking about a strong community base."

Machel said she also believed that the government had also not done enough to address the large number of firearms and drugs circulating in SA.

Machel and Ramaphosa said that while the state had an obligation to protect citizens' safety, policies and strategies were useless unless communities also reviewed how they were functioning and interacting, particularly when it came to families who provided the foundation for young adults.

Action for a Safe SA, launched in June, aims to intervene in the cycle of violence through the collaborative efforts of civil society.

The four-day conference is the brainchild of veteran politician and business leader Roelf Meyer, civil organisations and experts in crime and violence. It aims to help draw up a practical plan to address crime.

The conference was attended by prominent leaders such as Alan Boesak, Jay Naidoo, Cheryl Carolus, Wendy Luhabe of Wiphold, and Jody Kollapen, chairman of the South African Human Rights Commission, who all gave their support to the process.

Meyer said after the convention yesterday that the new plan would be published in 75 days and would outline the full concept, the capacity and the funding.

"We want the new plan published by November," he said.

Meyer said the effects of the initiative would probably not be properly felt for three to five years.

The plan will place emphasis on prevention, which is lacking in the government's revamp of the criminal justice system.

The findings will also be presented to faith-based organised communities and trade unions, as well as government departments such as social development.

Meyer said that as a result of the conference, provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape, were already planning to hold a mini version of the conference to get the ball rolling.

Paul Graham, executive director of the Institute for Democracy in SA, said that there was need for a better functioning and effective criminal justice system and the review that was under way was critical.

"But even if we get that right and we do not get society right, we will overwhelm the criminal justice system," he said.

Barbara Holtmann, crime prevention research leader at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, said she was very encouraged by delegates letting go of their territorial differences. "For the first time in 10 years ... people have come together without any territoriality," she said.