As long as criminals continue to terrorize residents of Ndevana, police must not rest
The capacity and intelligence of the police in fighting crime lies within the communities they serve, because each and every law-abiding member of society is by right, a crime-fighter. That is why it is important to continuously strengthen the relations between communities and police.
This is a view shared by the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa to the community of Ndevana during a public participation event held at the local hall today. Members of the community raised various complaints and equally gave compliments to the police, but agreed to work with police to deal in addressing all these issues.
The residents shared with the Minister some of their dissatisfaction with some of the local police stations. Amongst the issues raised were police taking longer to responding to crime callouts, alleged bribery, lack of resources and living in fear from rapists who terrorize women and children. They also spoke about the prevalence of taverns which lead to the commission of various crimes in the area. Fair enough, the communities also highlighted that not all cops were bad and that some have been really doing a great job in curbing crime. They said the issue of crime has potential to lead to crime spiralling out of control if there is no working-together between police and communities.
As a proactive stance, the Minister called upon one by one all the station commanders from the local stations, including Ndevana, Bisho, Ndimbaza, Zwelitsha, King Williams Town, Tamarha, Izele, Mpunzana to account before the residents, amongst others on their relations with communities. Secondly, the station commanders vowed before the packed hall that they will follow up on each allegation and case with immediate effect. The commanders also provided their cell phone numbers to the community members, vowing to be available 24/7 to serve.
According to the Minister, some of the tactical changes must include being smart about the kind of deployment and resources that are implemented, as well as ensuring that we anchor our policing approach on intelligence – and the best intelligence is from communities. “On the issue of under-resourced police vehicles, it is important for the police to ensure they distribute these accordingly. We do not want to hear allegations that some police officers go to Shoprite Checkers and buy groceries with police vans, or go and go visit boyfriends and girlfriends in police cars.”
“We have been on a crusade in various communities across the country because in the main, this is important to hear first-hand frustrations and suggestions from the communities. In fact, as we develop and improve our policies, we need to ensure that they respond and address the needs of our communities. We can only do so when we are in touch with the people on the ground that are directly affected by this scourge,” stated the Minister.
“But the one positive outcome we derived was their willingness to work with police in creating safer streets, schools, hospitals, shopping centres and homes. We approach our engagements with you as equal partners in this challenging task and it is our firm belief that it is through such dialogue accompanied by actions that we can defeat the scourge of crime.”
The communities amid some of the frustrations demand and rightly so, their safety is of paramount importance, they are willing to be the force multipliers in fighting crime. “We hold a view that for as long as criminals continue to terrorize the residents of Ndevana, police must not rest. Parents must not rest. Communities must not rest; and for as long as Ndevana women and young girls cannot walk freely without fear of being raped, we must all never rest.”
He also urged communities to report crime immediately as opposed to first conducting searches on your own capacities, whether suspected rapists of drug lords. The delay in reporting leads to some communities resorting to vigilantism and that to a certain extent is based on perceived lack to police pro-activeness.
Minister used the occasion to warn incompetent and lazy police officers that their days in the SAPS are numbered. He emphasised that all the issues raised in the meeting against police laziness or alleged involvement in criminality, will be investigated by the provincial management. “This meeting must represent a new beginning of working, not talking. We have talked a lot but now is the time to start acting on issues,” he concluded.
Minister Mthethwa gave the local police 24 hours to deal with all the issues that were raised at this meeting and shall await progress update, as he will be in the Eastern Cape tomorrow. He added that pending the report, there must be ongoing interactions between the communities and police whilst officials from the Ministry will monitor progress.
Enquiries:
Zweli Mnisi
Cell: 082 045 4024
Every member of the community is a crime fighter – Minister Mthethwa
