Programme directors
Deputy Minister Fikile Mbalula
National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele
All Provincial and Divisional Commissioners Acting Group CEO of SABC, Mr Gab Mampone
Head of Public Service Broadcasting of SABC Mr Lulama Mokhobo
Group Head News and Programming at Primedia, Mr Yusuf Abramjee
SABC representatives present
Distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
We all need to act decisively. What this means is that, all of us as patriots towards South Africa, have a duty. Not just the police but all of us need be patriotic South Africans in a fight against crime. This is a duty to take action against criminals who harass our communities. They steal from the poor as well as the rich.
The success of government's approach to the fight against crime is dependent on establishing strong partnerships with communities. This morning we visited the community of Diepsloot as part of crime fighting initiatives. We conducted roadblocks around the area and communicated our new programme with the community. This was a firm act of commitment from the police that we will not tolerate crime.
Diepsloot is one of the areas worst affected by crime. Although the area is still experiencing some unacceptable levels of crime, equally there have been some successes in terms of reducing other forms of crime. What is particularly pleasing to us is the manner in which the community has worked with Police to arrest some of these criminals.
It is therefore befitting that the first broadcast of when duty calls, will capture some of this morning's operation. The revamp of this show serves as further testimony of how as a police force, we are now looking at new ways of fighting crime. We do so by reviewing some of the tools that may have helped us in the past, and how we can implement new approaches to ensure we sustain the momentum in this challenge of reducing crime in our country.
The fight against crime is part of an integrated approach in the effort to accomplish the goal of a better life for all. In dealing with the issues of crime, government proceeds from a premise that improving quality of life also means improvement in the safety and security of the people in their homes, in their communities, in their places of work and extra-mural activities. In the main, incidents of contact crime such as murder, grievous bodily harm and rape occur amongst people who know each other. The proliferation of firearms within communities further perpetuates crime in society, especially towards children. Therefore, crime undermines our efforts aimed at defeating poverty even as poverty contributes in various ways in creating conditions that breed crime.
Through this programme, we call on communities to volunteer information that will assist police in tracing wanted persons and missing individuals, provide the public with crime prevention hints including crime awareness. In addition broadcast information on serious incidents of crime, provide the public with feedback on police crime investigation successes. More importantly we will enhance our efforts in dealing with crimes perpetrated against women and children. We believe this programme will also help us in fighting this scourge, by providing police with vital information to enable them to deal with such cases. While we anticipate an increase in viewer-ship we equally hope that the programme will assist us in our crime prevention and combating efforts.
The programme will send a message to criminals that we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to expose and capture them. This is the kind of reflection we would like to see. The success of the previous show, police file, indicates that the 300 episodes broadcast since April 2003 have yielded positive results, particularly with persons reported missing, as well as relevant information on crime. The programme has made a definite impact in locating and arresting several perpetrators of crime. Some missing persons and dangerous suspects have been arrested directly due to our external media exposure since January last year to August this year. As a result, we have countless positive successes which have involved the participation of various sectors in society dealing with these criminals.
While it may seem difficult to quantify the degree of public awareness that has resulted in reducing crime, we are confident to say the programme has played a crucial role in helping us reduce crime. We are pleased to learn from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) about your plans to ensure that even the remotest areas of our country have access to television broadcast. When government made a call to society to join hands in developing various strategic approaches in fighting and curbing crime, we did so cognizant that without partnerships, crime cannot be eradicated. The challenges we face require us to be innovative in dealing with the issue of crime. When we spoke about the new way of doing things, we did so bearing in mind that we need to look at all the resources holistically.
This approach is in line with the President's call to do things differently. From our communication resources, to capacitating our force, this is a new era and we remain confident that this new way of thinking, will help us in our goals. This is also a new kind of culture of working harder and smarter. It is within this context that today we are making a call to all South Africans to partner with the police in the fight against crime. Through your active participation, viewer-ship, tips and cooperation, when duty calls, will become a success. This, after all, is your programme. Fellow South Africans, join the crusade against crime.
Together we will do more.
I thank you.
Issued by: South African Police Service
8 October 2009
Source: South African Police Service (http://www.saps.gov.za/default.htm)
