The Police Ministry together with the management of the South African Police Service this week hosted three community engagements in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and the Free State provinces. The crime prevention Izimbizo saw community members put forward their crime concerns and gave the SAPS and other concerned role players an opportunity to outline immediate and long term interventions to address their safety needs.
The first stop for the three day Imbizo tour was in Soweto Gauteng, where residents of Pimville and other areas around the Kliptown policing precinct converged at the Pimville community centre on Thursday 28 April 2022, to participate in the Imbizo led by the Police Minister General Bheki Cele.
The community meeting was attended by MEC of community safety Faith Mazibuko, Johannesburg Mayor, Dr Mpho Phalatse with members of her executive, officials from the Johannesburg Metro police department and various stakeholders from the city of Johannesburg and department of Home Affairs. Community members sharply raised cable theft as a major crime concern.
Two weeks ago, Pimville resident Khomotso Diale was gunned down during a cable theft related shooting incident that resulted in the injury of five others at Chicken Farm informal settlement.
Police have arrested two people for the murder and attempted murders.
The Pimville community meeting saw the SAPS commit to intensifying dedicated intelligence led operations, to counter theft of critical infrastructure.
Added to this, ten more police vehicles have been added to the Kliptown police station’s existing fleet, this will assist plans by the local police to increase police visibility in the area and step up disruptive crime prevention operations to deal with the illegal trade of copper and improve overall policing of other crimes.
Some residents called for the informal settlements in and around the Kliptown area, including Chicken Farm where Diale was killed, to be demolished, some believe the informal settlements serve as breeding grounds for undocumented foreign nationals who are alleged to be involved in cable theft and other crimes.
Minister Cele urged Pimville residents to work with police to address crime.
“We heard you as residents of Pimville and as government we are responding in an integrated manner, not just from the SAPS but from all stakeholders that can address your concerns effectively, including Home affairs to deal with the issue of emigration and the city of Johannesburg to look into the mushrooming settlements you are complaining about. I do however wish to remind you as the community that while you have the right to mobilise, this must be done within the ambit of the law and the police service is on hand to enforce the law and deal with criminality, regardless of nationality, race or creed.” said Cele.
On Friday, 29 April 2022, the Ministerial Crime Prevention Imbizo made its way to the Eastern Cape. Gender Based Violence and Femicide was high on the agenda for many residents of Lusikisiki who came out in their numbers for the Ministerial engagement.
The local police station has reported the highest incidents of rape, as indicated in the third quarter National Crime Statistics of 2021/2022.
This GBVF Imbizo saw residents demand better service delivery from the police station, especially to victims and survivors of GBV.
To address this, the station will have five additional police vehicles to augment the stations vehicle fleet and assist in improving police response time and at the same time heighten police visibility.
The Lusikisiki area which boasts a population of over 200 thousand people, has a GBVF Combat Team established to manage and encourage public private partnerships in the fight against GBV and Femicide.
This intervention forms part of the provinces policing intervention Operation Sikhona which aims to strengthen and improve community safety and security through disruptive operations which are being intensified in identified areas with high crimes rates.
Meanwhile, the Lusikisiki police station has a GBV desk to exclusively attend to victims and survivors of sexual crimes, victim friendly services are available at all 199 police stations in the Eastern Cape province, with Victim Friendly Rooms available in 160 of those stations.
The three day Imbizo roadshow concluded in Botshabelo in the Free State on Saturday 30 April 2022, where the Minister of police assured residents of ongoing efforts by the SAPS to improve their services to this community, through strengthening policing capacity and shifting resources to address high in incidents of Gender Based Violence, contact crimes and stock theft.
The Imbizo is a follow-up from the Presidential Imbizo hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the 9th of April 2022 in the same area.
The Police Ministry is encouraged by the intergovernmental coordination approach between departments, at all the crime prevention community meetings this week. The Ministry is optimistic this approach will rebuild relations between police and communities and at the same time improve overall public confidence in government.
Source: South African Police Service