Gauteng MEC for Education, Mr Panyaza Lesufi
Gauteng MEC for Transport, Mr Ismail Vadi
CEO of Primedia, Mr Roger Jardine
CEO of Primedia Broadcasting, Ms Terry Volkwyn
Head of New & Current Affairs, Primedia Broadcasting, Mr Abramjee
Deputy National Commissioners
Provincial Commissioner of Gauteng, Lt Gen Mothiba
Divisional Commissioners
Stakeholders and business leaders
Representatives of the news media
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us for this double celebration.
The community expects the police to keep them safe; to prevent, combat and detect crime, in that order. And it is correct for the community to expect this from their police service. After all, our Constitutional remit is, exactly, to:
· Prevent, combat and investigate crime;
· Maintain public order;
· Protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property; and
· Uphold and enforce the law.
By the same token, we need the members of the communities we serve to play a role in the fight against criminality and disorder. It does not have to be a big role, fraught with danger and sacrifice. It can be as simple as making a phonecall, sending an SMS or logging onto a website, and reporting the criminals in the community – their location, their crimes and their habits.
Every single nugget of information can prove to be invaluable in tracing the offenders and collecting enough evidence against them to secure a conviction in a court of law.
Bearing in mind this set of expectations, we are very pleased today to be signing a renewed Memorandum of Understanding between the South African Police Service and the Primedia Group. This important document allows the two entities to continue with, and expand on, the partnership which was forged in 2007 and which gave life to the Crime Line initiative.
Crime Line, back in 2007, joined forces with the police’s Crime Stop office, which was established in 1992 with the express intention of allowing the public to report crime anonymously. Both Crime Stop and Crime Line, each in their own manner, offer a service whereby anyone in South Africa – or beyond our borders for that matter – can blow the whistle on crime and criminals. By making a phone call, typing out a sms message or logging on to either the police or the Crime Line website, criminal activities can be reported speedily and anonymously. The whistle-blower can have the satisfaction of knowing that he or she has put an end to an activity which is bringing crime and misery into their neighbourhood and the police can fulfil their Constitutional remit to keep the public safe. Definitely a win-win situation.
As the relationship between us has grown over the past 7 years, and the working relationship between the Crime Stop and Crime Line offices has strengthened, the communities have benefited.
As a direct result of tip-offs received via Crime Stop and Crime Line combined, between 2007 and 2014, 3 280 persons have been arrested and over R56 million worth of illegal or unlawfully obtained property and goods have been seized.
In addition, as a result of the Drug Watch campaign conducted in Gauteng and the Western Cape, approximately 30 000 people have been taken into custody and under the electricity theft campaign, Operation Khanyisa, 2 829 Eskom cases have been solved.
Ladies and gentlemen, these results would not have been achieved if ordinary individuals from within communities did not decide “Enough is enough”.
We thank each and every whistle blower for doing their part in the fight against crime. I also thank each and every police officer who has received a tip-off, jumped into a vehicle and made an arrest. Let us not forget, that sometimes responding to an anonymous tip-off can be just as, if not more, dangerous than responding to, for example, a bank robbery in progress because you have no idea what is awaiting you at that house, in that car in that isolated area.
In addition the arrests might not have occurred at all if a business group did not step forward and decide to take a stance against crime and encouraged people to report crime through them if, for some reason, they did not want to report directly to the police. For this we thank the Primedia Group and their stakeholders and supporters.
I believe that this updated and renewed Memorandum of Understanding will lead to an even firmer partnership and re-invigorated efforts to, in unity, tackle the criminal element.
The strengthened relationship between Crime Stop and Crime Line has resulted in our second cause for celebration today.
As you may be aware, recently Lt Gen Moonoo, Col Lamprecht and Yusuf Abramjee were appointed to the Board of Crime Stoppers International. Through their tireless efforts, South Africa will be hosting the 35th Crime Stoppers International Conference in October this year in Cape Town.
We are, therefore, formally launching this conference today and I hope that there are many supporters and stakeholders in the audience.
The South African Police Service has an abundance of experience in successfully securing events of this nature. Last year we also cut our teeth on successfully hosting such a conference when over 1000 policewomen descended on our shores for the International Association of Women Police’s(IAWP) annual training conference in Durban. Just as that was the first time the IAWP was hosted on African soil, so too is this the first time that Crime Stoppers International will hold their annual gathering in a country on our continent. This is yet another chance for all of us as South Africans, and those of us in law enforcement in particular, to showcase our hospitality as well as our professionalism, expertise and skills.
I believe that a number of interesting and knowledgeable local and international speakers are lined up for the event. This is an ideal opportunity for our law enforcement officers – and those in interrelated professions – to learn, to teach, to network and to share.
May the renewed MOU signed today, and the CSI Conference, even further concretize our partnership and sharpen our fight against the common enemy – crime.
I urge the whistle blowers to consider reporting on two other criminal trends as a priority. One is the killing of police officers. The brutal and blatant murder of our men and women in blue remains a concern.
Their killers live and move about in communities, and we urge those who know or suspect that individuals have been involved in, or are plotting, the murder of police officials, to report it. I also ask communities to report police officers who are involved in criminal activity via the Crime Stop or Crime Line numbers. I am purging the SAPS of the criminal or corrupt element and I need your help to fully transform this huge organisation into a professional, trustworthy and credible police service. As Robert Kennedy said: “Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on”.
I thank you.
GENERAL RIAH PHIYEGA
