3August 2007
The Anti-Crime Leadership Forum consisting of the Justice, Crime Prevention
and Security (JCPS) cluster Ministers and leaders of Big Business held a
scheduled meeting in Pretoria yesterday to review progress being made by the
four working groups of the step change initiative in the fight against
crime.
Review of the Criminal Justice System (CJS)
The ACLF commended this team for a great piece of work and the co-chair,
Minister Nqakula, undertook to process urgently their recommendations through
the progressive channels within government. Key amongst these are the
following:
* The JCPS cluster is to adopt a single Vision and Mission statement
including a single set of objectives for the JCPS cluster to effectively
improve alignment of all operations.
* Legislatively establishing a co-ordinating and management structures for the
CJS, including national and provincial levels in alignment with the
Constitution.
* Establishing an integrated and seamless national CJS database containing all
the information relevant for effective management of the CJS, where information
will be owned and authenticated by individual departments and agencies.
* Implementation of proposals in priority areas with significant positive
impacts on court processes inter alia, improved delivery capacity of South
African Police (SAPS) detective services, forensic, crime scene management,
prosecution and correctional services to provide an effective, appropriate,
people-centred and modernised CJS.
Violent organised crime
This work group which focuses on prevention and combating house robberies,
vehicle hijackings and business robberies reported promising achievements for
the quarter ended June 2007 together with the current priority actions. It was
noted that priority government interventions included visible policing
initiatives in seven provinces, which has resulted in crime prevention and
reduction in high crime areas and significant breakthroughs in a number of
cases.
The latest example being the arrest of thirteen members of a cash-in-transit
heist gang suspected of a spate of heists in the Mthatha and surrounding areas
of the Eastern Cape. This heist gang is positively linked to eight
cash-in-transit robberies while individual members are linked to a variety of
other crimes which include vehicle hijacking, armed robbery, possession of
unlicensed firearms and escaping from lawful custody.
Business focus includes support to the abovementioned SAPS operations by
enhancing information flow from business to the SAPS on hot spots, development
of minimum standards for the management of cash and regulation of the cash in
transit industry, co-operation and alignment of private security industry with
SAPS, video surveillance and suspected criminals. Higher level and broader
information sharing between the business sector and government is being
explored.
The focus of this working group on the prevention and combating of house
robberies, vehicle hijackings and business robberies may be expanded to
incidents of murder and rape. The issue of border security and controls and the
influx of illegal immigrants into South Africa were raised as a matter of
concern. The Forum noted that the necessary management and contingency plans
are in place. Reports were also received from the Communication and mobilising
Society and Baseline Effectiveness working groups.
The government delegation led by the chair of the JCPS Cluster, Minister for
Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula, included the Minister of Home Affairs,
Deputy Ministers of Justice, Defence, Correctional Services, Safety and
Security, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Social Development as well as
senior officials from these departments. The business delegation led by
co-chair Derek Cooper from Business Leadership South Africa included both the
Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Business against Crime (BAC),
the CEO of Business leadership SA and a host of CEOs from some of the largest
companies in South Africa.
For further information contact:
Siphiwe Nzimande
CEO: Business Against Crime South Africa
Tel: 011 883 1679
Cell: 083 633 8681
E-mail: Siphiwe@bac.org.za
Trevor Bloem
Spokesperson for the Ministry for Safety and Security
Tel: 012 393 1523
Cell: 082 778 3561
E-mail: bloemb@saps.org.za
Issued by: Secretariat of Safety and Security
3 August 2007
