Johannesburg - Criminals watch out, Gauteng is uniting against crime!
“We will not allow this province to be taken over by criminals,” Premier David Makhura has vowed.
“Enough is enough. Their days are numbered.”
Less than a week after the release of the national crime statistics highlighted an increase in violent crime in Gauteng, the province has set up a two-day Gauteng Safety Indaba to take a hard look at the problem.
Makhura and Gauteng SAPS commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba addressed the indaba, which brings together the SAPS top brass and police station commanders, metro police commanders, provincial political chiefs, the State Security Agency, community policing forum officials, business and civil society.
“We will emerge from here with the rudiments of a new safety plan for Gauteng,” Makhura said.
But any new or rejigged plan will first have to be approved by the provincial executive and may mean tweaking the Gauteng budget.
Makhura said he was promised an “unwavering commitment” from law enforcement to win the war against crime.
Resources were mentioned, with Mothiba acknowledging a problem with getting spares for police vehicles following a change in the national spares contractor three months ago.
He said the SAPS had now been assured that the supplier was stocking up with spares.
Makhura said key interventions were needed, such as improving police morale and motivation with better co-ordination, smart deployment of resources and rooting out criminals within law enforcement agencies.
He also mooted mobilising communities with a return to street committees and ward committees working with law enforcement, but not as vigilantes, as well as a government “war room” to sort out service delivery problems before they become policing problems through protests.
The premier called for all sectors to work with “honesty, integrity and passion” to sort out crime.
And Mothiba promised police commitment.
“We are going to do everything in our power to fight crime.”
Mothiba listed crime generators that included the abuse of alcohol and the availability of legal and illegal weapons.
He called for a reassessment of the law requiring police to hand over copies of dockets to the accused before trial, saying this prejudiced police investigations.
Mothiba raised concern about the perception that the rich can get off, referring to Paralympian Oscar Pistorius being convicted of culpable homicide rather than the murder of his girlfriend.
The summit continues on Friday.
The Star