Cele calls for police to be more visible on the streets this festive season

Police minister Bheki Cele told members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and police to be more visible in communities and increase their efforts in fighting crime this festive season. 

He said they should saturate the streets, malls and shopping centres in Gauteng province this week.  

Cele led the annual Festive Season Inspection Roadshow in the province on Tuesday in Sebokeng. He addressed the integrated parade at the Saul Tsotetsi Sports Complex. 

Cele, together with the police management team, deputy minister Cassel Mathale, national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola and the Gauteng deputy provincial commissioner, Maj-Gen Tommy Mthombeni, assessed the effectiveness of the SAPS' Safer Festive Season operational plans in place during the holiday period.

The policing interventions are expected to enable police to decisively deal with crime and any security threats during the holiday season.

He said the parade was to show criminals in the province that they would no longer be in charge. "It is important that this week we saturated, as many people go to many different places, especially malls - you go and take over those malls and you push back those criminals," he said. 

He said criminals shouldn't be allowed to run over the province, and that law enforcement agencies should be visible during the festive season.

"We can't have criminals running over the people of this province. Yes, we know most of the people here will be going to other provinces, especially in the coastal provinces, but for now, they are here working and shopping.

"When they are gone, their houses become vulnerable, so you need to be visible, to take care of the lives of the people of Gauteng together with their property, especially women and children," he said.

National police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola said this festive season police would prioritise gender-based violence (GBV) as one of their focus areas.

He said police in all stations in the country should assist women who are reporting GBV cases with dignity and respect.  

"We are also focusing on those [who] committed gender-based violence and ran away. We often call them wanted people, so we have the FCS [Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations] unit that is hunting those that have outstanding cases of GBV, those that ran away," he said. 

Masemola said they will also be focusing on violent crimes like cash-in-transit heists and common robberies to ensure that when members of communities go to malls and even on the roads are safe.  

He said they would focus on road safety, extortion at businesses and construction sites and security at the South African ports of entry. 

"Both BMA [Boarder Management Authority] and us [SAPS] will make sure that we have roadblocks at our borders. We know people will go to the beaches and dams, and we will make sure that where there are events, people comply with the relevant legislation even when they go to the sea and are safe," he said. 

"We know the construction industry is closing now but there are those that are still working. We will also be focusing on those areas including your theft of copper, and your scrap yards. We are going to focus on them so that they are not receiving stolen copper and steel in those areas.

"People that have taverns, make sure you close on time. If they don't, we will make sure that they close on time and confiscate the liquor," he said. 

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