The Head of IRB, Dr Simfukwe
The Director of the Organ of SADC, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Tanki Mothae
Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga
The Commissioner of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service
All SARPCCO Police Chiefs
Mrs Alison Bernard, Communications Coordinator of NCB
Interpol’s Communications Office
Senior police officials
All protocol observed.
Ladies and gentlemen, I extend a warm welcome to everyone present here today. We welcome you and we hope you will enjoy your stay in our country. Thank you for affording me the opportunity to address you on such an important day for our region.
We value the equal participation of member countries in Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO) activities.
It is an honour and a humbling moment for South Africa as a nation and for the South African Police Service (SAPS) to host you and take part in the deliberations of this gathering. We have gathered here as chiefs of police in our regions to discuss the shortcomings as well as inroads made in transnational crimes in detail. Our purpose is to get meaningful contributions that provide guidance and direction to the fight against crime in our region and beyond.
It is through meetings of this nature that great ideas are born, which, if nourished and nurtured, can blossom into tangible outcomes that we see in the form of joint operations, training and capacity-building interventions, and the production of guiding legal instruments.
Policing, particularly across borders, is, in its own right, changing in many facets, which therefore requires an even more vigorous collaborative approach to stay ahead of the syndicates that continue to undermine peace, stability and the rule of law in our respective countries.
Since the first day of the meeting, every member state present has demonstrated the urge to root out crime. The deliberations have indeed depicted the eagerness we have in working together to counter transnational crimes. We have discussed numerous ways of strengthening our agility to eradicate cross-border crimes in our regions. In our meetings, we have noted that we truly understand the importance of working together.
SARPCCO still fully comprehends the fact that it operates within the framework of a regional action plan which recognises and respects the sovereignty of every member state. Despite some differences in our legislation and the functioning of policing agencies, we have worked very hard to achieve harmony in SARPCCO.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time that we step out of our comfort zones. We can no longer be seen to be doing routine exercises. It is rather time that we take SARPCCO to the next level. It is important that we start evaluating the impact our strategies have on decreasing cross-border crimes. We must further evaluate and assess our training and implementation methods, and analyse what impact it has had on SARPCCOs’ development.
SARPCCO has four technical sub-committees, which have to be stretched and used to their full capacity, namely the Women’s Network, the Training Subcommittee, the Legal Subcommittee and the Permanent Coordinating Sub-Committee.
Ladies and gentlemen, our technical organs are gaining momentum. We have to continue to use them effectively to get the intended results. The Women’s Network needs to be repositioned to play its meaningful role in gender issues. It has an important role to play in the rise of social crimes that emanate in our respective communities.
If we are of the view that only the use of firearms in response to crime will be the solution, I am afraid we will be grossly mistaken. Involving the communities we serve, is key to our strategy to reduce crime.
Regarding the Training Subcommittee (TSB), no police work can be a success without it being underpinned and embedded in training. Training plays a meaningful role in formulating tactics and strategies that can be used to combat crime. I foresee a future where we have a regional academy in place that will shape a regional ideology that will fully capacitate all member states to fight crime.
To foster inter-country training, the academy will need to work closely with capable institutions of higher education. If we could achieve this, we would see ourselves creating more depth in tactical, operations and leadership skills.
The TSC is made up of designated officers responsible for training members in policing services and is responsible for the formulation, implementation and monitoring of systematic regional training policies and strategies.
The Legal Subcommittee (LSC) plays a meaningful role in guiding us when drafting policies that guide our work. We cannot be custodians of law and be found to be acting out of the very same legal frameworks we have developed or are expected to protect. The LSC will continue to attend to legal matters pertinent to police cooperation.
The Permanent Coordinating Committee will consist of the Heads of the Criminal Investigation Services of the members’ police service/force and will be responsible for formulating strategies to combat crime in the region, as well as creating operational mechanisms. These four organs will need to work more closely with one other so that we can collectively meet the needs of SARPCCO’s clients.
Ladies and gentlemen, the task at hand presented to me is huge and needs a hands-on approach. We will need your continued support of SARPCCO’s programmes. Alone without concerted efforts directed at a common goal, we will not succeed.
Technological developments are trending globally, increasing the threat of cybercrime. At ground level, we are still faced with a challenge of responding to cybercrime. When a complainant reports a crime on hacking or any other related computer crime, we are still left wanting.
We still need to develop, train and equip our police officers to be able to respond to these types of crimes and complaints. However, these technological developments do not only present challenges, but opportunities for us to embrace technology and step up our game in this regard. When criminals resort to technology, we should be a step ahead. We need to have the right expertise. We need to stay abreast of trends in the scourge of cybercrime. Smarter policing of our region and proactivity will lead to the success of our strategies.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is also important that I signal an important role that can be played by Employment Health and Wellness (EHW) in our policing. Police officers are human beings too. They have children, wives, husbands and lives too. They need to be taken care of, particularly when one considers the nature of work that they do daily. For example, the police officers who have been deployed in Lesotho, have encountered trauma, therefore, before returning to their respective posts, they need an outlined process of debriefing. The importance of such a process can never be overemphasised.
The handover means a lot to South Africa and to the SAPS. This gesture demonstrates the confidence the region has in South Africa. This shows that you believe in us and we will not disappoint you. This comes at a time where we least expect such a responsibility and it humbles us. The SAPS, on behalf of South Africans and the region at large, does not take this responsibility lightly.
I think it is important that I highlight our successes as SARPCCO to date. Among other things, we have done very well in developing policies guiding SARPCCO in terms of integrating training mechanisms.
- Recognising sports as a unifying mechanism that can and has brought us together as an organisation.
- On numerous occasions, member countries have shared information which has assisted us in fighting crime, enabling us to recover stolen vehicles in various SADC countries.
- Training has played a compelling role in developing leadership programmes focusing on women empowerment. A number of women have risen to leadership roles in their respective police agencies.
- This has been evident in that for the first time in our continent, we have two police chiefs who are women.
- We have seen women in the African policing fraternity becoming assistants of police chiefs.
Our first training symposium, which was held in South Africa, has also assisted the training subcommittee in identifying the regions’ training needs.
As an intergovernmental organisation which promotes socio-economic cooperation across the region, SARPCCO has achieved a lot. I believe I am indebted to all member states that play their roles in furthering the objectives of SARPCCO. Together, we have been able to communicate and derive insights and direction on pressing matters that our regions face in terms of security.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us remain true to our founding principle by strengthening our collaborative approaches with the aim to promote regional police cooperation against the emerging trend of transnational crime.
Thank you.
