Johannesburg - Hostile people refusing to assist police, unreported domestic violence incidents and inter-provincial taxi violence are just some of the problems that Gauteng police grapple with daily, according to provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba.
Mothiba, who was briefing the media on Thursday, appealed to members of the public to start trusting the SAPS.
Below are some of the difficulties that police in the province have to deal with:
illegal firearms
According to Mothiba, the staggering number of illegal firearms used in carjacking, house robbery and other robberies has prompted police to put aside funds to reward members of the public who report those using illegal firearms.
While he refused to provide numbers in terms of the cash rewards, he did say it would fluctuate depending on the usage of the weapon and whether it could be linked to serious crimes.
Domestic violence
“It’s still a silent crime,” Mothiba told the media, referring to the fact that most domestic violence incidents don’t get reported to the police.
He said victims often opened their cases and withdrew them - a tendency he said that would now be flagged by officers for further investigation.
He said the murder rate in Gauteng mostly comprised inter-familial violence, and the rise of domestic abuse cases was a “serious concern”.
Taxi violence
Mothiba said taxi violence was a growing concern in the province, with police intensifying their approach to apprehending criminal elements in the taxi industry.
“An advocate has been allocated to deal with taxi violence, and suspects will now be criminally charged, and no more fines will be given to them.”
In the past three months, police had convicted seven criminals and arrested 20 suspects, and had 12 court cases pending relating to taxi violence.
*For a list of contact numbers for cluster heads across Gauteng to lodge complaints, see http://iol.io/policeheads
The Star