Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Thursday he has "noted with grave concern" a spate of reports about missing people‚ in particular the prevalence of women and children in these reports.
For the better part of Thursday‚ South Africans have been flooding messages of support to the friends and family of Karabo Mokoena after her father publicly stated she had been found dead. She has been missing since April 28.
"I have been receiving complaints from the public from social media and at my office regarding missing young women and children. This is a matter of grave concern to me and requires immediate action and attention‚" the minister said in a statement.
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"If people are to judge the South African Police Service (SAPS) it would be based on how it protects women and children the most vulnerable persons in society. SAPS’ Missing Person Bureau must enhance its efforts in finding missing persons. Most important‚ the SAPS must prevent an escalation of the problem‚" Mbalula said.
He advised the public that there is no waiting period in reporting missing persons. This was to make investigations into missing persons quicker to resolve.
"When you suspect your loved one is missing‚ immediately report to your nearest police station with their most recent photograph‚ an investigator will be allocated to your case and an investigation to find the person will immediately kick-start. While acknowledging the usefulness of social media in spreading the message‚ I will stress the importance of reporting to your nearest SAPS Police Station‚” the Minister advised.
Mbalula‚ who was recently deployed to the police portfolio from the sport ministry‚ reiterated that there should never be no-go zones in South Africa and that the SAPS will enhance its visibility in areas that are considered risky.
“Free movement is a constitutionally guaranteed right and ours is to protect it‚” he said.
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Some people on Twitter were not too pleased that the Police Ministry had only now assured the public that cases of missing people would be treated with the utmost importance.
Amongst these were Zintle Craig who said: "We've been retweeting missing woman for the past 2 weeks now the death of Karabo has woken you guys up. Please don't fail us".
Bambi said‚ "Must say it took u so long to finally give a statement on the issue ..... I've seen so many people tweet u asking about the issue".
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