F Cachalia: Crime and policing in Gauteng for January to June
2007

14 August 2007

1. Introduction

Improving public safety by reducing crime is one of the key priorities of
the Gauteng Provincial Government. It is for this reason that I have undertaken
to brief the public regularly on crime trends and what is being done in Gauteng
to combat and prevent crime.

In July last year, I publicly reported that there had been a spike in
specific crimes such as residential and business robbery, vehicle hijacking and
Cash-in-Transit Heists in Gauteng. I then announced the launch of 'Operation
Iron Fist', which was a six-month high intensity operation to address the spike
in the various crimes mentioned. I outlined the specific objectives of the
operation and the crimes that were to be targeted.

At the beginning of February this year, I held a media briefing to present
the findings of a comprehensive evaluation of 'Operation Iron Fist'. It will be
recalled that I stated that 'Operation Iron Fist' had some success in that the
police had significantly improved their visibility and arrest rates. During the
operational period we had seen a reduction in certain crimes such as
Cash-in-Transit heists and that vehicle hijacking had been stabilised. However,
I also reported that residential robberies and business robberies continued to
increase.

I said at the time that you could corroborate what I was saying about the
crime trends when the official statistics were released this year. The National
Minister released these crime statistics on 3 July this year. What I was saying
in July last year and in February this year can therefore be confirmed in the
recent official crime statistics.

During the February briefing, I also reported that lessons had to be learned
from the evaluation of 'Operation Iron Fist' if we were to effectively move
forward in tackling crime.

Firstly, that the police had to strengthen their ability to target the types
of violent crimes that Operation Iron Fist had inadequately addressed. These
crimes are residential robberies, business robberies and vehicle hijacking.

Secondly, that we had to move beyond only focusing on policing alone if we
were to effectively address crime. For this reason we were going to publicly
launch the Gauteng Safety Strategy and the Take Charge Campaign to mobilise
communities to work with the police and other government agencies to improve
safety in their communities.

I will now provide feedback on what has been achieved in Gauteng over the
six-month period, between January and June 2007, to improve public safety. I
will provide you with an overview of the current crime trends. I will then
report on some of the key initiatives that we are going to undertake in the six
months period ending in December this year in our continued efforts to reduce
crime in Gauteng.

2. What has been achieved in the past six months?

2.1 Improving policing of priority violent crimes

To improve our ability to tackle violent organised crimes, my office
conducted research project on this matter during the earlier part of the year
with a focus on residential and business robberies and hijacking. The project
surveyed international best practices and the various initiatives being
undertaken in South Africa to tackle violent organised crime. The research also
garnered recommendations from senior police commanders within the priority
cluster stations for improving policing of these crimes. A workshop on the
report was held with Provincial Management of the South African Police services
(SAPS) and an implementation plan agreed to. I will report further on this
during the later section on the way forward.

Shortly after my last briefing in February, the National Commissioner of the
SAPS launched 'Operation Trio'. This operation was so named because its primary
objective was to reduce the following three serious violent crimes: residential
robberies, business robberies and vehicle hijackings.

To give affect to this operation, the 25 police stations recording high
levels of these three crimes were grouped together in five clusters, each
consisting of five stations. This initiative encouraged each cluster of
stations to work together to identify criminal gangs operating across precincts
and to focus the deployment of their resources in accordance to the trends and
patterns of these crimes. Furthermore, these stations received additional
personnel and vehicles to ensure that they had sufficient capacity to
proactively tackle the perpetrators of these crimes in their area of
jurisdiction.

Alongside 'Operation Trio', the police initiated a series of high density
policing interventions called 'Flood and Flush' operations to disrupt criminal
activity in various locations where crime had been increasing.

While the SAPS Business Intelligence systems tracks 112 indicators of police
performance on a monthly basis, I will mention a few key indicators of what the
police achieved over the period January to June 2007.

In terms of police visibility, there were:

* 7 750 roadblocks
* 6 029 cordon and search operations
* 75 869 vehicle patrols
* 79 881 foot patrols throughout the province.

This resulted in the following:

* A total of 672 168 vehicles were searched. This represents an additional
106 921 vehicles or an increase of 18,9% when compared to the same period in
2006.
* A total of 1 451 550 people were searched. This represents an additional 288
431 people searched or an increase of 24,8% when compared to the same period in
2006.
* A total of 2 500 targeted suspect raids were conducted to arrest criminal
suspects that had been identified as being involved in serious crimes.
* A total of 2 104 hijacked or stolen motor vehicles were recovered.
* A total of 8 168 firearms were recovered.

The police also improved their arrest rates for each category of violent
crime with substantial improvements in violent organised crime. This is an
important indicator as it reveals that the police are improving their ability
to target the perpetrators of these crimes. Each time the police arrest people
suspected of committing these crimes, they are able to get more information
about their methods, accomplices and networks. This allows for further
improvements in targeting these criminals which will ultimately lead to a
reduction of these crimes.

'Operation Trio' assisted the police to significantly improve their ability
to target the perpetrators of violent organised crime. This was operation was
successful as arrests rates for these crimes increased significantly over the
first six months of this year.

* Residential robbery: During the first six months of 2007 a total of 650
arrests were made for residential robbery. This represents an increase of 43,8%
when compared to the first six months of 2006.
* Vehicle hijacking: During the first six months of 2007 a total of 375 arrests
were made for vehicle hijacking. This represents an increase of 98,4% when
compared to the first six months of 2006.
* Business robbery: During the first six months of 2007 a total of 199 arrests
were made for business robbery. This represents an increase of 243% when
compared to the first six months of 2006.

The arrests rates of suspects for each of the other violent crime categories
also improved:

* Murder: During the first six months of 2007 there were a total of 1 246
arrests for murder. This represents an increase of 22,8% when compared to the
first six months of 2006.
* Attempted murder: During the first six months of 2007 there were a total of 1
015 arrests for attempted murder. This represents an increase of 3,6% when
compared to the first six months of 2006.
* Rape: During the first six months of 2007 a total of 2 277 arrests were made
for rape. This represents an increase of 28,1% when compared to the first six
months of 2006.
* Total Aggravated Robbery: During the first six months of 2007 a total of 2
960 arrests were made for all types of aggravated robbery. This represents an
increase of 27,6% when compared to the first six months of 2006.
* Common robbery: During the first six months of 2007 a total of 2 644 arrests
were made for common robbery. This represents an increase of 9,1% when compared
to the first six-months of 2006.
* Assault with intention to commit grievous bodily harm (GBH): During the first
six months of 2007 a total of 14 844 arrests were made for assault GBH. This
represents an increase of 16,3% when compared with the first six-months of
2006.
* Common Assault: During the first six months of 2007 a total of 9 039 arrests
were made for common assault. This represents an increase of 12,3% when
compared to the first six months of 2006.

2.2. Launching the 'Take Charge Campaign' the public face of the Gauteng
Safety Strategy 2006 to 2014.

On 30 March 2007, we launched the Gauteng Safety Strategy and the 'Take
Charge' against crime campaign at Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication (Freedom
Square) in Kliptown. This venue was deliberately chosen to symbolise the link
between community safety and the rights and freedoms which we struggled for and
are contained in the Constitution. Importantly, this event and its location
further highlighted that we can achieve change in our society through
collective action. By working together we achieved freedom and democracy and by
working together we can build a much safer society.

The Freedom Square event was historic as it was attended by over 11 000
people representing a cross section of all communities in the province united
in the common purpose of reducing crime in Gauteng. Representatives of all
political parties and many community leaders signed a pledge to support the
campaign against crime in what was a truly memorable day. The success of the
day was due to a lengthy consultation process to ensure that as many sectors as
possible understood and could engage with the Gauteng Safety Strategy as a
framework for developing sectoral anti-crime campaigns.

The consultation process consisted of a series of separate Crime Sector
Summits with representatives from 178 organisations in the following 11
sectors: business, labour, youth, gender, faith based organisations, Induna's
and hostel residents, community police forums, media, sports, cultural
celebrities, and community based leaders. Each summit resulted in the formation
of a Sector Steering Committee which was tasked with convening the sectors and
developing sector specific programs of action against crime.

The success of the launch demonstrated that diverse communities and
organisations across Gauteng are willing to work together to reduce crime. The
momentum that preceded the launch will be continued through the sector specific
crime campaigns and broad based community mobilisation that will be driven by
the Community Police Forums (CPFs) and organisations representing various
sectors throughout the province.

Time now does not allow for me to provide details about all the initiatives
being undertaken by my department so as to implement the Gauteng Safety
Strategy and Take Charge Campaign. However, I have covered these initiatives in
detail in my budget speech which I presented to the Gauteng Legislature on 15
June 2007.

Copies of this speech have also been handed out to you for your perusal

3. Gauteng crime trends in the first six-months of 2007

It is important to note that the recent crime statistics released by the
National Minister represent the total numbers of different crime categories
recorded by the SAPS during the last financial year which runs from 1 April
2006 to 31 March 2007.

The official statistics do not provide directional trend of any of the crime
categories during the year in question. I will use hijacking in Gauteng as an
example. Although the annual total figure presented for vehicle hijacking in
the official statistics revealed that this crime had increased by 0,9% during
the entire financial year 2006/07 when compared to the previous financial year,
the statistics presented do not provide details as to when and what extent
hijacking was increasing or decreasing during this period.

To elaborate on this point I will break down the official annual statistics
for each quarter of the last financial year. During the last financial year
hijacking increased by 12,3% between April and June 2006 (the first quarter of
the 2006/07 financial year) when compared to the same period the year before.
It was this increase that I publicly announced in July as constituting one of
the crimes experiencing a spike. During the second quarter (July to September
2006), the rate of increase slowed to nine percent and during the third quarter
(October to December 2006) hijacking stabilised by reflecting a marginal
decrease of 0,3%. I therefore announced in my February briefing that hijacking
had stabilised. Between January and March 2007 (the last quarter of the 2006/07
financial year), hijacking decreased by a significant 10,7% which could be
attributed to 'Operation Trio.'

We monitor various crime categories on a monthly and quarterly basis so that
we can determine if various initiatives are having any impact and so that we
can quickly identify problems so that we can respond quickly.

I will now present you with additional information about the crime trends
over the past six-months. These trends are based on crime statistics for the
months January to June 2007 as compared to the same time the previous year. I
will report on two quarters January to March 2007 which is the last quarter of
the 2006/07 financial year and April to June 2007 which is the first quarter of
the current 2007/08 financial year. The information I will now provide you with
was not contained in the statistics released by the National Minister as the
period April to June 2007 outside of the 2006/07 financial year. I am releasing
this information so that you will have an accurate understanding of the current
trends for serious priority violent crime in Gauteng.

I want to start by stating that we are in a very different situation to that
which we were this time last year. In July last year I reported that we were
experiencing significant spikes in certain violent crimes. Fortunately, I am
able to report that as from this year we have started to see a reduction or a
stabilisation in these crimes.

* Total numbers of violent crime levels declined during the first six months
of 2007 when compared to the first six-months of 2006. Between January and
March the rate of total violent crime stabilised with a marginal reduction of
0,3%. However, between April and June 2007 (the first quarter of the 2007/08
financial year) the rate of reduction improved significantly.

* Total numbers of property related crime levels continued to decrease
significantly during the first six months of 2007 when compared to the same
period in 2006. Between January and March 2007, total property related crime
decreased by 12,5%. Between April and June 2007, the rate of decrease improved
further on this figure.

* Murder started to decline during the first six-months of 2007 after a six
percent increase during the last financial year. During January to March 2007,
murder increased by 2,7% but then started to decrease between April and June
2007.

* Hijacking has decreased within the targeted range of between seven percent
and ten percent during the first six-months of 2007. Between January and March,
hijacking decreased by 10,7%. Hijacking continued to decrease at similar rate
during the period April and June 2007.

* Residential robberies stabilised during the first six-months of 2007.
During the previous financial year, residential robberies had increased by
26,7%. Between January and March 2007, residential robberies continued to
increase but at much a lower rate of 14,8%. Encouragingly, residential
robberies started to decrease within the targeted range of between seven and
ten during the period April to June 2007.

* Business robberies continued to increase during the first six-months of
2007. However, at substantially lower rate than the 40% increase experienced
during the 2006/07 financial year. Between January and March 2007, business
robberies continued to increase but at the much lower rate of 13,4%. During the
period April to June 2007 rate of increase had slowed to the point that this
crime is considered top have stabilised during this period.

It is important to note that other figures support the trends in the police
statistics that I have highlighted above. For example, it was reported in the
financial section of the Sunday Times on 29 July that insurer Mutual and
Federal have also started to see a decrease in claims with respect to
residential and vehicle crimes when compared to last year.

It is too soon to be too optimistic about the changes in patterns of the
serious crimes that started to spike last year. We will have to monitor the
situation closely and continue with our plan of action that flows from the
Gauteng Safety Strategy. I am very aware that the levels of crime in Gauteng
remain at unacceptably high levels and that we will need to see a sustained
period of significant reductions before we can claim to have achieved our goal
of a safe and secure Gauteng.

I am also deeply aware that the statistics mean very little for people who
have been victims of serious and violent crimes. As long as people experience
incidents of horrific brutality or the threat of violence in their homes or in
our public spaces, improvements in crime patterns provide little comfort.
Nevertheless, it is important that we closely monitor crime trends and patterns
so that we can establish whether our initiatives are having an impact. While we
have a long way to go, signs are that the hard work our communities and police
are putting into addressing crime is starting to make some difference.

4. The way forward

We are going to spend the next six-month period strengthening and deepening
our response to crime within each of the four pillars of the Gauteng Safety
Strategy. Given time constraints this morning, I will deal briefly with a few
key initiatives that fall within two of the pillars of the Gauteng Safety
Strategy, namely improving the quality of policing and encouraging community
participation.

I urge you to look at my budget speech for details about the various other
initiatives that will be implemented within the pillars dealing with social
crime prevention and strengthening institutional arrangements to improve safety
in Gauteng.

4.1 Improving the quality of policing

It is commonly accepted that highly professional and good quality policing
at the local level can have a significant impact on reducing crime. However,
local police stations are also rely on strategic guidance, coordination and
support from a provincial level to better enable them to work in a consistent
manner across the province if they are too continually close the space in which
criminals to operate. It is for this reason that one of the core pillars of the
Gauteng Safety Strategy is to support and promote improvements in the quality
of policing at both provincial and station levels.

Improving police response to violent organised crime

As part of our work to improve the policing of organised violent crime in
Gauteng, the following initiatives are currently underway and are being
monitored by my office.

1. The establishment of a Gauteng Crime Information Management Centre by the
SAPS. This provincial level centre provincial level will improve the strategic
guidance and support provided to local police stations to tackle cases of
violent organised crime with the intention of improving police detection of
perpetrators. The police are planning to operationalise the centre during
September.

2. The development of a Police Station Protocol for improving local level
police response to cases of aggravated robbery throughout Gauteng. This
protocol will provide all police stations with clear and practical guidance as
to good practices to ensure an effective response to robberies occurring in
their precincts. It will also provide station level police officials with
information as to the available support that they can receive to improve their
ability to tackle these crimes.

During the second half of 2007, the department will also be working with the
provincial SAPS to provide further attention and support to the 30 police
stations that have been identified as struggling with crime and service
delivery. Our Gauteng Information on Police Performance System (GIPPS) has been
developed and allows us to track crime and police performance in each of the
130 police precincts throughout the province. We will be using the system to
identify the stations that need support and then carefully identify the
specific challenges that need to be addressed to improve performance against
priority crimes and service delivery. This information will be provided to the
relevant Community Police Forums.

Further SAPS initiatives

We are looking forward to the launch of the new 10111 Police Emergency
Response Centre in Gauteng by the end of October as was announced by the
National Minister. The new 10111 radio system has been installed and is being
checked by engineers. All SAPS vehicles in Gauteng are being fitted with new
radios and location tracking technology to promote quicker responses to
incidents of violent crime. This system will assist the police to direct the
nearest available police vehicle to a scene from where a call for help has been
made. Improved police response times will increase the ability of the police to
arrest perpetrators and provide services to victims.

Currently the SAPS are in the process of developing a Sustainable Policing
Strategy. It is recognised that the dynamics of crime are constantly changing
and it is therefore important that the police also adapt. A review of the
previous operational policies has been completed and various task teams are
working on proposals to strengthen the police organisation as a whole. A key
focus of this strategy is to ensure that local police stations are
substantially strengthened and capacitated to tackle local crime challenges.
More details about this strategy will be forthcoming as it is further
developed. However, it is important to note that this strategy is to move the
police away from relying on operations to a sustainable approach to crime
combating and prevention.

4.2. Developing partnerships

Effective partnerships can significantly improve the effectiveness of
anti-crime initiatives. It is for this reason that we will continue to develop
and support partnerships where they will make a difference in tackling crime. I
will now mention a few examples.

During 23 and 24 of this month we will be holding a two day workshop with
all of the Local Governments in Gauteng to ensure alignment between the
provincial and local government anti-crime strategies and initiatives.

In September, I will be attending a workshop with Business Against Crime
(BAC) to align the work of the Big Business Working Group national initiative
with our Gauteng Safety Strategy.

Also, next month the faith sector will be launching their anti-crime
initiative. They are one of the various sectors that partook in the summits
that we held in the build up to the launch of the 'Take Charge' campaign.

4.3. Encouraging community participation to reduce crime

Community participation is crucial if we are to successfully reduce crime in
Gauteng and therefore it represents a key pillar in the Gauteng Safety
Strategy. We have received tremendous support from communities across Gauteng
who are willing to take charge and do something constructive to make their
neighbourhoods safer.

We are continuing with our programme to strengthen Community Policing
Forums. During the second half of the year 42 Community Policing Forums (CPFs)
will receive assistance from the department support to hold the first of two
public community meetings. The purpose of the public meetings will be to engage
different communities in the process of developing local level Community Safety
Plans to tackle specific crime problems. Community Safety Plans will provide
CPFs with a useful tool through which to develop partnerships and rally
resources to solve specific crime related problems within particular
locations.

Our community volunteer programme was launched in Sebokeng on 11 July 2007.
This programme will result in 26 communities receiving properly trained,
equipped and managed patroller groups. By the end of this year 18 of the 26
community patroller groups will be launched and equipped as part of this
programme. These patrollers will be the eyes and ears of the community to keep
a look out for criminal activity and call the police as soon as any such
activity is detected. These patrollers will assist in closing the public space
available for criminals to operate and in doing so will enhance safety in their
neighbourhoods.

Over the next six-months the department will also be paying increased
attention to improving safety in poor and often marginalised communities. This
coming weekend my department and I will be meeting with Hostel Induna's to
develop a safety plan for hostels in Gauteng. Furthermore, the department will
be working with local governments to roll-out the recommendations of a project
that aimed to improve the policing and safety of identified informal
settlements in the province.

5. Conclusion

A lot of work has been done since the adoption of the Gauteng Safety
Strategy in August last year. I must thank all the community volunteers that
work in our Community Police Forums, those that have joined our patroller
programme and all those people that have become involved in lawful initiatives
to improve safety in their communities. I must also thank our Provincial
Commissioner and his provincial management team, the Station Commissioners and
all the police members and their families who have worked hard and for the
sacrifices that they have made to combat crime in our province.

We are starting to see some welcome signs that progress are being made.
Nevertheless, crime is still too high and much more still has to be done. I
believe that with the support of the people of Gauteng with the continued and
consistent implementation of our Safety Strategy that we will start to make the
progress that is needed. There are no quick fixes but with determination and
perseverance we will make a difference to prevent and reduce crime.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Community Safety, Gauteng Provincial
Government
14 August 2007