Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC, Mr Vusi Shongwe has called on members of Justice Crime Prevention to enhance coordination of their activities so that road accidents and crime could be reduced during the Festive Season and beyond.
Shongwe was speaking during a Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) meeting held in Nelspruit yesterday (1 November 2012).
Representatives from the department, South African Police Services (SAPS), Home Affairs, Justice, South African Revenue Service (SARS), National Intelligence Agency and Social Development attended the meeting.
During the meeting, Shongwe urged all the stakeholder departments to support all operations planned by either the department or SAPS for the festive season in order to attain the goal of reducing road accidents and crime.
Shongwe says the cluster needs to collectively build on the province’s ability to reduce crime and use the same vigour to reduce fatalities and lawlessness on the roads during the Festive Season.
The MEC added that the communities across the province are ready to assist government to reduce crime and accidents judging by the manner in which they are participating in the programmes of the department.
“Most people are realising that they needed to participate in crime prevention initiatives and therefore plans needs to be well co-ordinated so that the impact could be optimal, “the MEC said.
Shongwe has also called for the intensification of border security in collaboration with Swaziland and Mozambican authorities in order to curb incidences of illegal crossings and transportation of drugs and counterfeit goods across the border.
He has called on SAPS management to give feedback to communities on a regular basis regarding the building of police stations projects across the province. He said this was key as communities would know the challenges associated with the building of the stations.
The meeting was briefed on among others the building of Tweefontein, Balfour, Grootvlei, and Mametlhake police stations.
JCPS Cluster members also noted progress made with regard to the plans of building a High Court in the province, the establishment of the Middelburg and Secunda 10111 Call Centres and the Department of Correctional Services’ implementation of electronic monitoring of parolees and building of Half Way houses for some ex-offenders.
The meeting also agreed on the increased co-operation between Swaziland authorities in order to minimise illegal crossings.
It was also agreed that infrastructure improvement at ports of entry should be prioritised to curb incidences of corruption at border posts.
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