Programme director
Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Metro Councillor Wayile
Professor Swartz and management of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)
Members of Parliament
Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry
Chairman of Integcomm, Mr Scholtz and your team
Management of the South African Police Service (SAPS)
Government officials
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is indeed a great honour for us as the province of the Eastern Cape to once more unveil another innovation project, which clearly demonstrates the fact that we can be rural, but we are brilliant. The “first of its kind” facility that we are opening today is a true testimony of the realisation of our vision in the new government term i.e. working together we can do more.
Indeed, through partnership with progressive business, today we are here to celebrate another milestone. On behalf of the provincial government, I would like to reiterate the Premier’s message during her visit here yesterday that we really appreciate Integcomm’s contribution to this province as this will go a long way in dealing with our service delivery challenges.
I would like to commend the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University for opening its doors for this innovation project, which is going to assist us to deliver services to our people faster and smarter in line with President Jacob Zuma’s instruction through the State of the Nation Address.
The opening of this facility marks a permanent departure from a painful past, when our people used to wait for many hours for police to attend to their complaints, because of the alleged shortage or unavailability of police vehicles.
Through this system, we are going to enhance the performance of the SAPS in this province and to ensure realisation of one of our priorities as highlighted in the ANC’s manifesto, which is to intensify the fight against crime and corruption.
This academy is the first of its kind in the world with equipment and resources to the value of R40 million, which have been installed in this centre and will be managed by NMMU as a separate business unit. It forms part of the R1 billion contract awarded by the SAPS to Integcomm for the installation of this TETRA System. I hope that the communities of the Eastern Cape, especially local small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), are also going to benefit out of this big investment. The academy will ensure that training of the TETRA System is done locally, instead of overseas, as in the past, and form part of the curriculum for fourth year engineering students.
Already, 24 SAPS members have been trained in operating the system for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This system will be implemented in two phases, namely:
* phase one focusing on ensuring effective communication for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup
* Phase two will be a roll out to the entire province.
The benefits of this system allows for communication between the police throughout the province on one frequency effectively. Furthermore, the system is being integrated with identified municipalities’ CCTV camera systems through a common control room to effectively monitor crime. Considering the demographics of the province, particularly rural communities this TETRA system will ensure effective service delivery to communities, particularly the marginalised.
A further important feature of the TETRA System is that each police vehicle will have an automated vehicle location system (AVL) to track down the exact location of vehicles to ensure rapid responses to a crime scene. This AVL system will also stop abuse of vehicles by police members, which means an end to stories that we have been receiving about police vans that are parked in taverns and other places.
All 10111 centres’ personnel will be trained to use this system. We will further introduce a train-the-trainer system to capacitate other SAPS members. Three new 10111 centres will also be built in East London, Port Elizabeth and Mthatha, of which East London will be the first.
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the same technology was used and 11 million calls were received, which means that we are ready for any eventuality at the new Port Elizabeth Stadium and the Fan Park. I hope that this innovation project will help us to deal with the misconception that crime is getting out of hand in South Africa.
Today, government and business are declaring war against crime through showcasing to everybody that our country, especially our province, is a place to live, work and invest in.
This means that we are ready to host the world in this province and our Host City, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. In addition to this, we have already made indelible advances such as:
* The finalisation of our safety and security plans
* Completion of deployment strategies for personnel and resource allocation
* Allocation of dedicated 2010 courts and will be operational within the host city throughout the FIFA Soccer World Cup and will function from 07h45 to 23h00 daily
* Identification of dedicated prosecutors; magistrates; paralegals and interpreters
* Training of 12 officials on foreign languages
* Identification of correctional centres and will be working extended hours to support the police; justice and home affairs
* Identification of a Provincial Joint Operations Centre (JOC) in Port Elizabeth
* Cluster JOCs have been identified in Port Elizabeth; Mthatha and East London
* Venue Operations Centre (VOC) has been identified at the stadium. The TETRA System will be helpful in such operations, including other VOCs in airports; harbours; hotels and rail stations
* Special investigation group has been formed to trace and prosecute offenders as part of a strategy to reduce crime in the Host City
* Joint court and detective strategy is in place to investigate and prosecute 2010 related cases
* A dedicated group of law enforcement agencies has been established and will be on standby as a reserve group for tactical deployment if the need arises
* Remote search park in place
* Immigration officers will be deployed to this city and at each of the PVAs
* Staff has been capacitated to deal with issues of human trafficking and assist victims
* Fire and emergency plans completed which includes 80 specially trained fire volunteers if needed
* CCTV cameras to monitor hotspot areas in the city
* High tech equipment to support law enforcement agencies has been procured (card verification devices; breathalyzer equipment; vehicles; IT).
We have trained 500 safety patrollers to assist with security at the six public viewing areas within the province. These safety patrollers completed their 10 day training course and are now eligible to qualify as security officers. This project is one of our 2010 safety and security legacy projects.
As we speak, training is underway for traffic law enforcement agencies focusing on Incident Management Systems (IMS) in an effort to improve their capacity of dealing with accident and incident scenes. Also included in this training programme are SAPS members, officials from South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) and our customer care consultants, as they are the ones who are receiving information from the traffic officers on the scene.
During the tournament, all road users will be encouraged to notify our customer care centre through our toll free number 0800 644 644 about any accident or incident.
On 4 June 2010, we will be launching the Eastern Cape’s First Alcohol Testing Centre here in Port Elizabeth, which has been sponsored by the South African Breweries, in an effort to intensify our law enforcement against drunken driving. This is another innovation that will be coming out of a partnership between government and the private sector.
In conclusion, I would like to once more express our sincere gratitude for this good partnership, which we believe marks a turning point in the manner in which we are delivering services to our people. Indeed, working together we can do more!
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Safety, Liaison and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
30 April 2010
