Durban - Pietermaritzburg’s crime-busting Combined Action Team (CAT) has been reinstated after a public outcry.
Police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker, confirmed on Tuesday that after the outcry, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, had made a decision to reinstate CAT.
The team, which is tackling the high rate of crime in the city, will be managed by the office of the commissioner under the command of the visible policing component at provincial head office.
“The provincial commissioner felt that CAT has been highly successful in combating crime in Pietermaritzburg, and should continue operating in the area,” Naicker said.
“Partnerships like this are crucial to curtailing criminal activities in our communities. It is through endeavours such as these that we continue to reduce crime in our province,” Ngobeni said.
After CAT’s disbandment earlier this month, a petition calling for its reinstatement was launched.
The team was disbanded when the policing cluster was split into two units – north and south uMgungundlovu.
Msunduzi mayor Chris Ndlela also got behind the team’s reinstatement, calling for CAT to be put back in action after a meeting with city officials. Ndlela said it was important that the community and police work together to reduce crime.
Since its inception in February, CAT had made more than 430 arrests and recovered more than R10 million in stolen goods.
The team consists of skilled and professional police and security company members.
Babs Sithapersad, chairman of the Pietermaritzburg Rates Forum, said he was happy the team had been reinstated. “We believe that the team made a huge difference in fighting crime and instilling confidence in the police,” he said.
CAT’s effectiveness had attracted widespread media attention. In March, the team arrested four men who broke into a house in Estcourt and stole household appliances before fleeing in a stolen SUV
, and in April, six suspects belonging to the notorious “Doorbell Gang”, allegedly linked to 80 housebreaking and theft cases were arrested.
Daily News