Today, I had the pleasure of meeting with Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile who has been appointed as the Provincial Commissioner to the Western Cape.
We were further joined by the Deputy Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sindile Mfazi, and the Provincial Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz.
Lt. Gen. has undergone a rigorous recruitment process and has come out as the strongest candidate to serve our province. I look forward to working closely with him.
It was very reassuring to hear from Lt. Gen. Patekile on his detailed plans to address crime in the province, which include a focus on gangsterism and extortion.
Safety remains an important pillar within the Western Cape Recovery Plan. We cannot uphold the dignity of residents and provide them with adequate economic opportunities if their environment is not safe.
This is why we have established the Western Cape Safety Plan, which jointly aims to increase the number of boots on the ground through the deployment of Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers and implement a range of violence prevention interventions.
I want to thank SAPS in the Western Cape for the support that they have provided to the Safety Plan since its inception, nearly two years ago. Our LEAP officers would not be able to make a difference in the communities they serve without the support and buy-in of their local SAPS.
I also want to echo Lt Gen Patekile’s call to members of the community to assist SAPS in their crime fighting efforts and to do so by coming forward and reporting any perpetrators of crime. We all have in important role to play in ridding our province of crime.
Going forward, the Western Cape Government, through the Department of Community Safety, will work closely with the Provincial Commissioner and his office to make the Western Cape a safer province for all.
