Despite the various social-ill challenges such as drug and gang-related violence, domestic violence, robberies and killings, the community of Mitchell's Plain has vowed to continue to work with the police, justice, correctional services, home affairs and intelligence to address some of the these socio-economic challenges facing them.
This commitment emanated from a Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster public participation engagement held in Beacon Valley, Mitchell's Plain today. Speaking on behalf of the cluster, Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa said that when the leadership of police first visited Mitchell's Plain last year, the community raised a number of concerns.
A month ago, the Minister again visited the area after two Community Police Forum (CPF) members were shot by criminals. "During this last visit we agreed that it would be important not only to have more time to talk about the problems but also to bring other government Ministers within the JCPS cluster. This is so that we would jointly respond to the challenges faced by this area. Therefore it important to work closely with other government departments such as the Justice; Home Affairs; State Security and Correctional Services. This will ensure that criminals are identified, arrested, prosecuted and sent to prison."
"Today we have come here not just as the Ministry of Police but as a JCPS cluster with other government departments. We have come to hear from you what we can do jointly and better to address the problems faced by this area. This meeting is not about us telling you about how much we have done. Rather it is about us listening to you and hearing from you what you think we can do better to deal with the problems faced by Mitchell's Plain."
The cluster is aware that critical to the challenges faced by this community are the illicit trade in drugs, problems related to substance abuse and domestic violence that affects the most vulnerable in our society namely women and child. In this regard government is concerned about the number of children not only from this community but within the province that go missing and are then subsequently found dead. The other challenge is that of gangstarism, which is more accompanied by high levels of violent crime and which affects the lives of all residents of this area.
The cluster appreciates the efforts that have been taken by members of this community to address crime. It further recognises that to win the war against crime it is essential that government join hands with communities in forming concrete partnerships.
"However we realise that there maybe be other areas where we need must give more support to our pledge to assist communities and structuring involved in combating crime. Government has not adopted a neutral stance in the fight against crime, but took a side of the vulnerable: to protect them against violent criminals."
"We know that many of the criminals are known to the community. There is also a lot of frustration among you about the ability of these criminals to continue to harass and attack residents. In taking the fight to the criminals we need to reclaim our streets. All members of the community especially women and children need to be able to walk tall without fear of attack or harassment," said Minister Mthethwa.
As part of strengthening our fight against crime, we have identified the need to improve our information and intelligence gathering. We are also ensuring that this information is used by the police to respond to the challenges facing the area.
Enquiries:
Zweli Mnisi
Ministerial Spokesperson
Cell: 082 045 4024
Issued by: South African Police Service
14 November 2009
Source: South African Police Service (http://www.saps.gov.za)
