The Department of Police, Roads and Transport in the Free State would like to convey its sincere gratitude for the support it received from Free Staters and various organisations within the Province and South Africa as a whole during the Provincial Crime Prevention Summit held on 11 to 12 April 2013 at Phillip Sanders Resort in Bloemfontein.
On the same note, the department would also like to thank participants for their support and contributions during the summit which aimed to develop integrated strategy that will be hallmark of crime prevention in the province.
The Provincial Crime Prevention Summit was graced by the presence of Minister and Deputy Minister of Police Mr Nathi Mthethwa and Ms Makhotso Sotyu, Free State Premier Mr Ace Magashule, Members of Executive Council from Free State and other provinces, National Commissioner of Police Ms Riah Phiyega, members of SAPS and SANDF, taxi industry and all other relevant stakeholders.
The general feeling of the Summit attendees was that the fight to reduce crime is the responsibility of every South African citizen. This was supported by MEC for Department of Police, Roads and Transport Hon Butana Komphela when he said fighting crime and corruption is one of the five government priorities identified to be translated into programmes which would inevitably lead to a better life for all citizens. The MEC further stated that failure to fight crime and corruption will make the country to be unstable and there will be no investment, business will be stagnate and even decline which means we cannot create decent work and sustainable livelihood and we will also not be able to reduce poverty.
The provincial crime prevention summit has noted that:
- the impact of crime on the safety and security of the youth, disabled, women and children;
- that the success on the fight against crime is not only dependent on the Police;
- the negative impact of deteriorating morality on crime;
- the interrelatedness between crime and socio economic development;
- the influence of substance and drug abuse on the escalation of certain types of serious crimes;
- the impact of environmental designs or lack of, on encouraging the commitment of crime;
- the disturbing and mushrooming phenomena of gangsterism in the province and its impact on the safety of communities and schools;
- the challenges faced by the rural community in relation to participation and benefitting from the Criminal Justice process
- the ineffectiveness of silo working in the fight against crime, and
- the shortcomings created by the lack of existence of the monitoring mechanisms of crime prevention initiatives.
Based on the above findings, Free State Provincial government under the leadership of Premier Ace Magashule declares that it commits itself to:
Improve the quality of life of all Free State inhabitants through the creation of a safe and secure environment towards accelerated and sustainable socio-economic development and a better life for all, by:
- ensuring multi-sectoral collaboration and community participation in fighting crime
- restoration of the moral fibre among all people
- enhancing public education in harnessing awareness and greater citizen responsibility
- addressing socio- economic roots and consequences of crime
- creating alternative platforms for youths to counter the influence of gangsterism and Satanism in particular.
Lastly, the department would also like to thank the presenters and facilitators for making the summit a tremendous success and ensuring all in attendance felt welcome and had an opportunity to make contributions towards the creation of Provincial Crime Prevention strategy.
Enquiries:
Saki Mohono
Cell: 082 385 5600
