Honourable Speaker,
Minister of Police, Mr Nhleko,
Deputy Minister of Police, Ms Sotyu,
All Ministers and Deputy Ministers present,
Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
All MECs present,
The Acting Secretary of Police,
The Acting Executive Director of IPID,
Chief Executive Officer of PSIRA,
Deputy National Commissioners, Provincial and Divisional Commissioners of SAPS,
Members of CPFs present,
Traditional Leadership and Civil Society present,
Distinguished guests.
Good afternoon, dignitaries and honoured guests. It is indeed a privilege to be among you today and let me add my voice of thanks to each of you for gracing us with your presence on this important occasion.
The Department of Police has a lot to be grateful for as, over the past two years, we celebrated important milestones in the history of policing in South Africa.
As a service, the SAPS has progressed dramatically since its formal establishment in 1995. We intend to continue with this transformation process because, as a dynamic organisation, we have to continuously evolve and improve.
It is important to acknowledge that, as an organisation, we have experienced challenges over the past 20 years. I venture to say, that no police service in the world goes about its day-to-day duties of serving and protecting without encountering difficulties. It is how we face and overcome those challenges that will distinguish us and allow us to leave a proud heritage when it is our time, Minister and Deputy Minister, to hand the baton over to the next generation.
Over the years, operational transformation through community policing saw a radical shift, establishing an active partnership between ourselves and the communities. This includes the increasingly important role that is being played by business and NGOs alike in line with the prescribed legislation.
We have recently taken our stance on partnership policing a few major steps forward, by signing MOU’s with several organisations and institutions. These MOU’s – for example with the CSIR, Old Mutual, Business Against Crime South Africa, UNISA and StatsSA, will ensure that we receive significant support in major areas such as research, technology, education, crime-fighting projects and the manner in which we present credible crime information to the nation.
This coming Monday, we will be signing an MOU with the Human Rights Commission. This will cement our commitment to ensuring that human rights culture is entrenched within the SAPS.
Ladies and gentlemen, some refer to us as the “thin blue line” between stability and lawlessness, between peace and anarchy. Dare I say that the vital, essential duties we perform were brought into the stark spotlight when this country recently endured a few weeks where those who were not born in this country became victims of vicious attacks.
It became very apparent who was standing between groups, armed with a variety of weapons, intent on attacking each other. Yes, that line was blue. As the days passed and the situation was rapidly normalised, and peace and stability returned, the men and women in blue – ably supported by all of government who united and mobilised – enjoyed a huge amount of support and appreciation from all communities.
It is my pledge today at this auspicious event, to hold onto this momentum and hard-earned respect and trust. We are going to do that by relentlessly continuing with our crime-busting initiatives – such as Operation Fiela. We are going to do that by delivering service of the highest quality; by being respectful, efficient and professional; by respecting human rights and human dignity. But by relentlessly tracking down those who murder, rape, harm and steal at the same time.
We also continue unrolling our Frontline Service Delivery programme to all provinces. Ours is to continue to cultivate a client-driven policing system and culture that will benefit all our constituencies.
We will continuously strive to construct a better way of delivering services to the people of this country. We are part of a government that has, over the years, committed itself to serving, by – inter alia - putting in place the Batho Pele principles which serve as a guide as to how we should be carrying out our duties.
We have over the past years policed and secured dozens of major international events, as well as our own general elections. As we stand here today, we have already been planning our security detail for the 2016 municipal election.
We can predict that we are going to be very busy in the several months leading up to the local elections, with community protests unfortunately diverting our human and physical resources. But we are well up to the task and we will march on with dedication and commitment.
We are up to the task because we have our men and women in blue on the ground, who are focused, committed and who patriotically hoist our flag high everyday. To them we say, thank you a million times for what you do is a difficult, demanding and dangerous job.
