Theme: “Gearing up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup”
Let me first take this opportunity to greet you all this afternoon, when we unveil our programme for this year’s Safety and Security month (February).
This month’s programme mainly focuses on:
* popularising the firearms amnesty
* demonstrating our state of readiness for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
* mass mobilisation against crime
Firearms amnesty
Last month, the Minister of Police re-opened the fire arms amnesty in an effort to reduce the number of firearms in circulation to combat violent crime. We are going to use this month to encourage people to surrender illegal firearms, including the licensed firearms.
We call upon all people who have knowledge of whereabouts of firearms and ammunitions, those who inherited firearms and did not apply for a licence. A provincial task team has been established to lead this process. Let us work together to raise awareness about this and communicate our themes: “Together we can do more against crime”, “Awulethe Umshini Wakho: Surrender your firearm”.
2010 state of readiness
Our security plans and readiness for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be under extreme scrutiny and we need to accelerate our pace, especially on the tournament-related activities. Our guiding principle is to ensure that we:
* extend an unforgettable South African welcome to the world
* mobilise the people of the Eastern Cape to be part of this African world cup
* strengthen collaboration amongst various stakeholders
Already, our 2010 transport master plan has been completed and it clearly requires various stakeholders to identify areas of collaboration, especially from a security point of view, in order to ensure successful implementation. This month, I am going to meet the 2010 security work stream to finalise our safety and security plan for the tournament, which was formulated at the provincial 2010 Security summit late last year.
We are going to see the practical implementation of certain elements of the plan, including the training of 83 safety patrollers per district from community policing structures. This training is conducted by Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA) and all the recruits will be screened and deployed in the public viewing areas in various districts, including areas such as Buffalo City, Makana, Matatiele, Cofimvaba, Lady Grey and Port St Johns.
As we speak, we have six public viewing areas and our law enforcement agencies are finalising plans for deployment of personnel and ensure that we have proper crowd control measures. As we move closer to the tournament, we are going to intensify our interaction with the Host City in order to ensure that everything goes according to our over-arching provincial plan that we have adopted.
Mass mobilisation against crime
We remain conscious of the fact that we have a responsibility to win back our streets from the hands of criminals.
We believe that community policing is still important in improving relations between the police and the communities. We are going to intensify the participation of our communities in the fight against crime through the establishment of street committees, village committees, and safer schools committees. These structures are going to be empowered to also deal with the challenge of human trafficking, which is growing in our rural areas.
In conclusion
We call upon all the people of the Eastern Cape to support this programme, including faith based organisations, business people, youth and women organisations, and media houses.
Let us continue to work together to make this province a place to live, work and invest in.
I thank you.
Enquiries:
Ncedo Kumbaca
Tell: 043 604 7584
E-mail: nossy.mzini@dot.ecprov.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
2 February 2010
