DURBAN – The nationwide Safer Festive Season inspection tour by the SAPS, aimed at tightening the grip on contact and violent crimes during the holidays, will move to KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.
The tour, led by Police Minister Bheki Cele, will remain in KZN until the end of the year.
According to Cele, the inspection tour has its focus on visible policing, conducting special crime awareness and prevention operations, targeting crimes prevalent during this period, such as gender-based violence and crimes against children, border security, and contravention of road and traffic regulations.
On Tuesday Cele revealed that KZN accounted for the highest number of murdered police officers.
“According to the National Crime Statistics of the 2020/2021 financial year, 80 officers of the SAPS were killed on and off duty. Seventeen of those members were killed in the Eastern Cape; the second highest figure after the KwaZulu-Natal province which accounts for 21 police murders,” Cele said, during the Eastern Cape leg of the inspection tour.
Cele said the Lusikisiki police station in the Eastern Cape recorded the second highest rape cases in the country, after the Inanda station in KZN.
“The Ministry is concerned that a minor has been arrested for a series of rapes in Mdantsane. The 14-year-old boy faces seven counts of rape, with the first case dating back to 2019 when the youngster was only 12-years-old.
“It is on that score that all operational members of the SAPS are instructed to prioritise gender-based crimes and constantly improve their services to rape survivors. A call has also been made for all officers to ensure police stations are not centres of secondary victimisation for victims of GBV,” Cele said.
To comment on this story send a WhatsApp message to our BackChat column on 071 485 7995
Daily News