Programme director,
President of the Polokwane Chamber of Business, Mr Percy Mongalo Members of the Executive Committee of the Polokwane Chamber of Business,
MEC for Economic Development, Enviroment and Tourism, Mme. Pinky Kekana,
Acting Head of the Department of Safety, Security and Liaison Me. N Tsebe,
The SAPS Provincial Commissioner in Limpopo, Lt-Gen TS Mpembe,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good Morning.
Let me start off by expressing my gratitude for the timely invitation to engage with an august body such as the Polokwane Chamber of Business. Polokwane is both the political and economic hub of the Limpopo Province. As the Chamber representing business in the capital city you assume an increased significance in the growth and development of the province.
Mr Mongalo yours is not an ordinary chamber and therefore a lot is expected from your organisation.
My appearance before the Polokwane Chamber of Business is long overdue. Be that as it may, I am going to take full advantage of today’s interaction by sharing a range of issues about our Mandate as the Department of Safety, Security and Liaison. This being our first encounter I will start at the beginning with what the Mandate of the Department is and how it manifests itself in practice.
The Mandate of the Department of Safety, Security and Liaison is drawn from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa: Chapter 11, Section 206.
Section 206, Sub-Section 3 states that each province is entitled to the Political Responsibilities over Policing in their areas of jurisdiction:
- To monitor police conduct
- To overseer the effectiveness and efficiency of the police service, including receiving reports on the police service
- To promote good relations between the police and the community
- To assess the effectiveness of visible policing
- To liaise with the Cabinet member responsible for policing with respect to crime and policing in the province.
To give concrete expression to this mandate the Department has the following programme areas:
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Civilian Oversight: The objective of this Programme is to exercise oversight function with regards to law enforcement agencies in the Province. It further gives effect to Section 206 (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa mandating Provinces to monitor police conduct, oversee effectiveness and efficiency of police service delivery and to assess the effectiveness of visible policing.
- Crime Prevention and Community Police Relations: This Programme facilitates, develops and implements integrated social crime prevention interventions for safer communities. It further provides for the participation and involvement of communities in social crime prevention initiatives and strengthens relations between communities and police agencies. The programme further seeks to promote safety through the provision of education and awareness programmes to communities.
During the tabling of our 2012/2013 Budget Speech of the department, we envisaged and highlighted the significance of engagements like the one we are having here this morning.
The smart partnerships falling in line with the democratic government’s credo of: Working Together We Can Do More. Such partnerships seek to mobilise and concientise all sectors and sections of society to support the fight against crime.
We are convinced that working together we can do more to defeat crime and create an environment of safety and security for the people of Limpopo and visitors to our province. As a body representative of organised business in the Greater Polokwane area you are obviously concerned about your members falling prey to criminals. I must point out that your concern about crime against businesses is our concern too.
Through the South African Police Service, the democratic government is doing everything in its powers to root out crime in all its manifestations. The causes of burglary into our businesses come as a result of the available markets for stolen goods and keeping of large sums of money inside business premises.
The New Second Hand Goods Act will tighten screws on the easy movement and sale of stolen goods. The Act provides the police with a tool through which second hand goods dealers can be permanently put out of business if found to be involved in the selling of stolen goods.
This critical piece of legislation will effectively lead to a clean-up of the second-hand goods industry. The associated penalties, which provide for imprisonment for imprisonment of up to 10 years, are suitably harsh and will be seen as a clear deterrent to those dealers engaged in the selling of stolen goods.
As the Act provides for industry bodies to be accredited, second- hand goods dealers’ associations will be able to support the police in monitoring compliance through inspections and self-regulations.
As for the role of Private Security Industry in the fight against crime, what we should know is that the role, powers, functions and limitations of the Private Security Industry is governed by legislation – the Private Security Industry Regulation Act of 2001.
The Act has since been amended to provide for additional powers to the Minister; to provide for the Authority to promote crime prevention partnerships with organs of the state; to provide for the regulation of ownership and control of businesses operating as security service providers and to regulate security services rendered outside the Republic of South Africa.
The long and short of the amendments to the regulatory environment of the Private Security Industry should not be misconstrued as the demise of the industry or that the government doesn’t see them playing a role as partners in the fight against crime. Far from it, the amendments actually cleans up the industry and removes opportunists. The clean-up paves the way for a more increased role for the industry in the fight against crime in partnership with organs of the state.
On the Closed-Circuit Television Surveillance System in the city, the following are the challenges:
- The system is not effective as the cameras are not serviced regularly
- The cameras are currently not placed at crime hotspot areas.
Most of them are placed on the route to the Peter Mokaba Stadium. From the side of the Police crime hot spots have been identified and the inconsistencies will be taken up with the municipality.
In conclusion I call on the Chamber to partner with the department and the Police in fighting crime. There are many ways that Business can become a partner in the fight against crime:
- Organising the business sector
- Mobilising resources
- Adopting police stations
- Education to members and the public
As we say in the Department: The Fight against Crime Starts with Me.
I thank you!
