Gauteng
15 September 2006
Combating serious and violent crime continues to be one of the main
challenges facing our province and the country. Government, in its entirety, is
committed to effectively addressing this problem.
President Thabo Mbeki, several cabinet ministers and senior government
officials met with the Big Business Working Group on 25 August 2006, during
which the delegation presented its efforts to partner government and other
sectors of society in the fight against crime. It was agreed that the Minister
of Safety and Security will convene a high-level meeting between business
against crime, selected Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and the Justice, Crime
Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) to review steps to strengthen the fight
against crime across the "criminal justice system." This meeting is scheduled
for Monday, 18 September 2006.
On the 30th of August 2006, the Gauteng Provincial Cabinet chaired by the
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa formally adopted the 'Gauteng Safety Strategy
for 2006 to 2014.' This is a multi-faceted and comprehensive strategy that aims
to ensure a sustainable reduction in crime throughout Gauteng in the medium to
long-term.
On Monday, the Premier stated that all law enforcement agencies must adopt a
zero tolerance approach to crime and that all peace loving South Africans
should be called upon to work harder to entrench a culture of respect for law
at all levels of society. This was said following a detailed discussion of
crime at an Executive Council Lekgotla held the week before, and attended by
the most senior provincial government leaders in Gauteng.
Earlier this week the national Minister of Safety and Security, Charles
Nqakula, unveiled new elements of the police crime-fighting strategy that
includes the Metropolitan Police departments working under the command of the
South African Police Service (SAPS), the use of new technology and the large
scale redeployment of senior police managers and members to stations that
require assistance.
Gauteng safety strategy
At the start of this provincial Cabinet's term of office in 2004, addressing
crime was identified as a key priority. As the MEC for Community Safety, I was
tasked by the Premier to develop a comprehensive crime reduction strategy for
Gauteng.
Last year an intensive period of research and broad-based consultation was
undertaken into the complex crime-related challenges facing this province. The
results of this process were collated into a report that was finalised in March
of this year. Subsequently, the Department of Community Safety crafted the
first ever tailor-made, eight year strategy for dealing decisively with crime
in Gauteng.
The vision of the strategy is stated as follows:
"To achieve a globally competitive Gauteng City-Region characterised by
confident people, households and communities enjoying a high quality of life
because they live, work and travel in a law-governed society free from fear,
violence and crime."
The strategy adopts the target set by the national Cabinet to reduce serious
and violent crimes by between 7% and 10% a year. The Gauteng Safety Strategy
draws from the approach and experiences of the National Crime Prevention
Strategy (NCPS), the White Paper on Safety and Security and international
lessons on police reform and social crime prevention. The aim of the strategy
is both to be tough on criminals and tough on the causes of crime. The strategy
will be rolled out over eight years with specific objectives to be achieved
well before the milestone of 2010.
The strategy contains four pillars within which a number of strategic
objectives have been developed. These are as follows:
Pillar 1: Improving the quality of policing to increase the risk to
criminals through:
* improving the performance and service delivery of the police
* tackling police misconduct and corruption
* strengthening community policing forums
* improving multi-agency collaboration between the police and other agencies in
tackling serious and violent crime.
Pillar 2: Promoting social crime prevention to reduce the factors that
contribute to crime in Gauteng with a focus on:
* reducing crime and violence against children
* improving school safety
* reducing crime and violence amongst out-of-school youth
* preventing violence against women.
Pillar 3: Developing effective institutional arrangements for crime
prevention through:
* improving information systems to better analyse and respond to crime trends
and patterns throughout Gauteng
* strengthening inter-governmental relations between provincial and local
governments to align resources and improve our collective impact on crime
* encouraging local governments to play a greater role in crime
prevention
* promoting the co-ordination of the criminal justice system in Gauteng to
increase the conviction rate of the province.
Pillar 4: Encouraging community participation to ensure a safer Gauteng
through:
* changing attitudes and behaviour through increasing social awareness and
understanding about crime prevention
* building the necessary organisational capacity to support and co-ordinate
community activity against crime.
As part of the implementation of the fourth pillar we will launch a social
movement against crime later this year. The purpose of this movement will be to
unite all communities from all backgrounds across Gauteng in the fight against
crime and to improve the safety of our neighbourhoods. The social movement will
be supported by a large scale community volunteer programme. I will be calling
on all the people of Gauteng to support the social movement against crime by
becoming actively involved in the fight against crime.
I am currently engaged in a consultation process to present the Gauteng
Safety Strategy to various stakeholders to get their feedback and commitment to
making this initiative work. The plan will be publicly launched after it has
been tabled before the Gauteng Legislature.
National Minister's announcement to improve the capacity of the police to
fight crime
Restructuring of the South African Police Service
A national plan has been developed within the SAPS to redeploy police
managers and members to improve service delivery throughout the country. This
will mean that Gauteng will receive an extra 3 011 police members. This will
lead to increases in the following types of SAPS personnel in the province:
* 30 station commissioners
* 641 detectives
* 925 crime prevention officers
* 630 crime intelligence officers
* 75 general support personnel
This will increase Gauteng's capacity by 15% in terms of additional
detectives and 8% in terms of visible policing.
Operation Iron Fist
In July, following a meeting convened by the national Minister of Safety and
Security with the entire provincial MECs and the senior management of the South
African Police Service, I announced the launch of Operation Iron Fist in
Gauteng. This is a six-month police operational plan aimed at tackling
criminals involved in specific crimes such as car hijacking, robberies of
houses and businesses, cash-in-transit heists and public transport related
crime and violence.
I have met with the senior management of SAPS in the province and they have
given me feedback on what has been achieved during the first two months of the
strategy for July and August. The following can be announced against the
objectives highlighted at the media briefing at the beginning of July.
1. The increased mobilisation of police resources
This objective was to increase police presence through recruiting new
reservists and extending sector policing. At this point the following has been
achieved:
* A total of 514 new reservists have been recruited bringing the total
number in Gauteng up to 3 516
* A further seven Sector Crime Forums were established bringing the total
number of such forums up to 414 across Gauteng.
2. Targeted deployment of police
This objective was to ensure that police adopted a targeted and proactive
response to particular crimes. The number of arrests affected for specific
crime types since the start of the operation are as follows:
* murder and attempted murder - 474
* rape - 20
* aggravated robberies - 647
* robberies of businesses - 28
* robberies of residences - 109
* hijacking - 81
* cash-in-transit heists - 14
* residential burglaries - 809
* housebreaking - 958
A total of 477 stolen or hijacked vehicles were recovered.
3. Increased roadblocks
This objective was aimed at disrupting criminal activity and generally
making the roads safer through increasing police visibility and intensified
police action. The following was achieved in this regard:
* A total of 3 313 roadblocks, vehicle check-points and stop-and-searches
were held throughout the province in the past two months. 1 656 were held in
July and 1 657 were held in August.
* 8 222 traffic violation fines were issued.
4. Targeting key suspects
This objective was to track down the most wanted suspects in Gauteng. The
result was that 1 882 wanted suspects were arrested over July and August.
A few examples of people who were on the Gauteng's SAPS 'most wanted' and
have been recently arrested list include:
* Siphamandla Alfred Masoka, Mxolisi Malinga and Bheki Sangweni were
arrested for taxi related murder cases in Meadowlands, Jabulani and Diepkloof.
These were 'hit men' who terrorised the taxi industry in Soweto and are linked
to ten criminal cases.
* The arrests of Bafana Nzimande, Thabo Mekheta, Charles Nkosinathi Phakathi,
Jabulani Moyo and Themba Ngwenya who formed a cash-in-transit robbery gang.
They operated primarily in the East Rand and are linked to a number of other
cases.
*The arrest of 'high flier' Bongani Mbuyisa who was involved in cash-in-transit
heists and bank robberies in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.
* The arrest of Nathi Madela who was the leader of a cash-in-transit gang
operating in Gauteng. He was arrested with Sinky van Wyk who was also wanted in
connection with a number of robberies and cash-in-transit heists.
* The arrest of Muziwaopheli Noboza who is charged with murdering SAPS
Inspector Msimang of Langlaagte. This man was also wanted for two other
murders.
* Sibusiso Zuma and Siphiwe Ngcobo were arrested for house robbery on the 14th
of this month. It was established that they were linked to at least five other
cases in the Johannesburg area.
* Simon Mashini was recently arrested and linked through his fingerprints to at
least twenty cases including murder, rape, abduction, house robbery,
housebreaking, vehicle theft and arson.
* The arrest of Siphiwe Moholele who was on the province's most wanted list for
murder and hijacking. He will appear in court on 21 September 2006.
* The arrest of the 'Sandton Knife Gang' consisting of seven members who robbed
at least 18 townhouse complexes. They appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's
Court yesterday and will appear again on Friday next week.
5. Removing illegal firearms
Efforts to remove illegal firearms were stepped up and the following has
since been achieved:
* 1 035 firearms were confiscated
* 9 883 rounds of ammunition was confiscated
These firearms will be tested to find out how many crimes they were involved
in and stored as evidence if needed or otherwise destroyed.
6. 10111 call centres
This objective was to improve the service provided by the 10111 emergency
call centres in Gauteng. Since the start of Operation Iron Fist officers from
the Metropolitan Police departments of Tshwane, Ekhurhuleni and Johannesburg
have been assigned to assist in the co-ordination and attendance of serious
complaints received by the 10111 call centres.
Currently I am not satisfied that the levels of service at the 10111 call
centres are where they need to be. Further measures for improving the service
delivery of these centres will be announced in due course. I also appeal to the
public not to misuse the 10111 number. This number is only meant for emergency
responses by the police. When people use it for other purposes, it clogs up the
system and leads to inefficiencies that could prevent a serious emergency from
being attended to.
7. Railway safety
During July 497 police reservists were used to improve the safety of Metro
Rail trains. During this month these reservists made a total of 4 435 arrests
for a range of different crimes. The police are confident that safety on the
trains has improved as a result.
8. Increased community mobilisation against crime
This objective recognises that it is necessary for the community to be
involved if crime is to be effectively tackled. During July and August a number
of Community Police Forums were visited with the intention of improving
relationships with the community. Furthermore police made 2 306 visits to
schools across the province to increase awareness amongst young people of their
important role in tackling crime.
The success of community mobilisation against crime can be seen in the
increase in the number of calls that the police Crime Stop number has received.
During the month of June a total of 19 548 calls were received. By the end of
July a total of 24 164 calls were received.
Concluding remarks
I am satisfied that the police have intensified their efforts in tackling
crime in Gauteng since the announcement of Operation Iron Fist. There has been
improved police visibility as police have increasingly focused their resources
to better respond to crime trends and patterns throughout the province. These
efforts are a clear answer to the irresponsible comments that are made from
time to time that the police are largely incompetent and demoralised. I want to
take this opportunity to thank the police for their efforts so far in trying to
make Gauteng safer for all of us. I am confident from the dedication displayed
so far that the police will continue to increasingly take the fight to
criminals, as this operation further unfolds.
Of course various challenges remain and we all have a lot of work to still
do. I am concerned that the numbers of residential and other robberies are
still too high and that we continue to have incidents of taxi violence. I would
like to see further improvements in the targeting of people belonging to
organised crime syndicates in a manner that substantially increases conviction
rates. This will require better intelligence and improved collaboration within
and between our different law-enforcement agencies. Of further importance is to
ensure more effective co-operation between the police, the courts and
correctional services so that we can ensure that more criminals go to jail and
that we can better keep track of them once they are released.
I will be giving another briefing in two month's time to keep the public up
to date with further unfolding of Operation Iron Fist and developments
regarding the Gauteng Safety Strategy.
Thank you for your attention and remember � together we can beat crime!
Enquiries:
Phumla Sekhonyane
Tel: (011) 689 3633
Cell: 082 909 3708
Issued by: Department of Community Safety, Gauteng Provincial
Government
15 September 2006
