at The Star and Safmarine breakfast meeting, Johannesburg
21 September 2007
An editorial in The Star newspaper the other day picked up the conviction
and sentencing by magistrate Norman Makhubela of Richard Modungwa, one of the
smash-and-grab criminals in Johannesburg. The Star has become one of the
leading media in South Africa in the fight against crime, exposing the scourge
wherever it has been occurring. The newspaper has been running a series of
exposes on the smash-and-grab criminal syndicates, apart from other very good
work it has done to expose crime.
The part of the editorial I want to lift up is where the editor made the
following observation:
"The magistrate was particularly impressed that Modungwa had been caught by
members of the public after breaking into a 53-year-old woman's car in
Industria a month ago. This entire episode is testimony to what can be achieved
when we all work together to fight crime."
There should be national consensus around the matter of united action by all
of us who love our country; who love peace and are law-abiding citizens,
against all forms of crime. All media houses in the country should be at the
forefront of the effort to mobilise our countrymen and âwomen actively to
participate in the anti-crime project.
The law enforcement agencies are the primary tool that must investigate
crime and arrest criminals. They are the primary tool that must create, in a
highly professional and dedicated manner, conditions for safety and security in
the country. But, no police force in the world, however big and strong it is,
can defeat crime and criminality if it does not enjoy the support and
confidence of the general population it is mandated to protect.
The role of the population is to provide the police with information
relevant to the investigations that are under way. The various communities will
always have within their ranks some people who would be aware of who does what
crime, who would know where the criminals are hiding. The partnership between
the communities and the police is the best weapon to deploy against
criminals.
We want properly to define and consolidate that partnership in our country
so that, in a practical way, the great majority of our people become crime
fighters. We are revamping the Community Policing Forums so that they become
the co-ordinators of a durable relationship between the communities and the
police.
At this point, allow me Programme Director, once more to pay tribute to the
Star newspaper, which has designed a programme to assist the Gauteng Community
Police Forums in the work that they do. It is my wish that the contribution the
Star is making in the fight against crime will be emulated by the other media
in the country.
The question of partnerships has been a vehicle that the African National
Congress (ANC) has used over many years in its struggle for the liberation of
South Africa. It mobilised the world against apartheid and sought partners in
the country after it was unbanned in 1990, to ensure victory in the 1994
democratic election.
Crime was among issues the ANC discussed before 1994 as part of its policy
choices under the future democratic dispensation. In 1992 the Movement
discussed the situation of violence and other serious crimes that characterised
the period from the mid-80s to 1992 and the culpability in those crimes,
through commission or omission, of the security forces.
The discussions considered not only the past and the present but also
defined strategies and tactics in the policing of the future democratic South
Africa. The question of a partnership with the communities was raised and the
following formulation went into the policy document:
"The ANC's vision of policing, set out at its policy conference, is in line
with developments that have taken place in policing elsewhere in the world. In
brief, police forces everywhere have begun to stress 'community' or 'consensus'
policing as the most viable model for the 1990's.
"This philosophy is not new but grounded in the original principles of
modern policing. Community policing is not 'soft' policing. Community policing
has now been recognised as more effective because it understands that it is not
the police alone who combat and prevent crime. It is the community who are
largely responsible for criminal prosecutions. They lay charges, make
statements, testify in court and assist the police in the performance of their
functions. Without this co-operation no police force can discharge its
duties.
"Above all, the police must be accountable to the people whom they serve.
Unless the police are rooted in and accountable to the communities in whose
name they police, they will not enjoy the support of these communities. Without
the support of the people no police force can perform its task of preventing
and combating crime. The police must establish its policing priorities in
consultation with local communities and be subject to such communitiesâ
evaluation and control. The police, in short, must work with communities, not
against them."
Many of the elements of that document became part of the country's
Constitution and became the kernel of the South African Police Service Act. One
of the early partners of the government in crime fighting was the business
sector. Big business established Business against Crime (BAC) in 1996 as a
partner with the police in the fight against crime. BAC designed a number of
projects to deal with street crime, where they installed surveillance systems.
They also contributed high technology tools in the fight against vehicle crime.
The technology includes micro-dotting which helps to trace stolen vehicles. BAC
widened its scope to include assistance to the entire Integrated Justice System
where they helped to improve the necessary infrastructure and systems. To
enhance their input, they also seconded some of their members to the various
projects run by the Integrated Justice System (IJS).
BAC is also in partnership with the Department of Education to create safety
and security for the school environment, relating to the protection of both
educators and learners. The role of BAC has been raised to a higher level with
the new partnership between the Presidential Big Business Working Group and
government's Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster that is
comprised of the ministries for Correctional Services, Defence, Foreign
Affairs, Home Affairs, Intelligence, Justice, Safety and Security and Social
Development.
The JCPS cluster has been holding discussions with the labour movement,
especially the three federations, Congress of South African Trade Unions
(Cosatu), National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu) and Federation of Unions of
South Africa (Fedusa), with a view to finalise a clearly-defined programme of
action in the fight against crime. Discussions have been held also with the
National Religious Leaders Forum en route to the articulation of a partnership
with the religious sector.
There are some communities where the partnership with the police has been
introduced. In such areas, crime levels have dipped significantly. Where that
is happening will always be found vibrant Community Policing Forums. The CPFs,
in terms of our new strategy, will be located at the centre of community
policing, as the co-ordinators of better relations between the communities and
the police. Their functions will be:
* to help root the police among the people and build, in the circumstances,
confidence and trust in the police
* to identify within the relevant communities capable residents who will be
recruited as reservists and trained in basic policing by the police to be a
force multiplier against crime
* to persuade various skilled people, including professionals, to contribute
time and energy, on a voluntary basis, to help in specialist fields in police
work like counselling for trauma victims, especially women and children; flying
police aircraft (helicopters and fixed wing) in the various police operations,
or assisting in the Forensic Science Laboratories.
The CPFs will do that work in close collaboration with the communities and
the police. They will also monitor police work and, together with the police,
articulate policing priorities for the various communities. The CPFs will also
have the necessary authority to ask the police to do regular briefing sessions
for the communities on crime trends in the various areas and be available to
answer questions by the communities.
When media organisations like the Star newspaper help the CPFs they are
contributing to a strategy that must help us improve tremendously the way that
we do policing in South Africa. They will know, therefore, that the
contribution they made was to the greater national interest of our country.
When businesses contribute resources, especially high technology, to the
fight against crime, they are helping us better to build the South Africa that
so many of our people sacrificed so much to achieve, including even laying down
their lives in the pursuit of a South Africa that is truly free, democratic and
prosperous, which embraces high moral values, including peace, justice,
stability and security.
A South Africa of that kind will not be designed by government alone. All
our people must contribute in the building of such a country as dependable
partners of government. We have already made gains that can take us to a better
future. There are some serious challenges in the way, including crime. But, we
defeated apartheid, which was described by the United Nations as a crime
against humanity. We can defeat crime now, especially serious and violent
crime.
Partnerships is the way to go to deal with all the enemies that still stalk
us, be they the many diseases that our people suffer from, like HIV and AIDS,
tuberculosis and cancer, or homelessness, poverty and illiteracy. We surely
have the will and resources to tackle all the problems we have but only if we
work together, united as a nation and a people and guided by a deep sense of
national consensus.
Issued by: Secretariat of Safety and Security
21 September 2007
