CRIME STATS | Cleaning up the rot in SAPS as 46 members dismissed

Forty-six police officers have been dismissed for various transgressions in the current financial year, police minister Bheki Cele said on Friday.

He said police were ridding the service of officers who chose to partner with rogue criminal elements.

Cele was releasing crime statistics for the third quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year. The release was also attended by national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola and SA Police Service management.

Cele acknowledged the latest crime figures did not paint a positive picture. They did, however, show police were pushing back on criminality through visible policing and disruptive operations.

“Plainly put, more boots on the ground was not just a slogan, their impact has been felt and is starting to make a difference in our communities.

“With that said, we know and understand that police alone will not be able to drive out criminality on our streets, in our alleyways, in our homes, schools and places of leisure and worship. We call on communities to take charge and be allies in safety,” he said.

The police minister believed a community-centred approach to prevent and combat crime would yield better results.

“We call on all South Africans to be part of a safety partnership between civil society and community structures, religious and other organised groupings, business and law enforcement.

“We are calling on residents of Mfuleni, Alexandra, Inanda, Seshego, Mitchells Plain, Diepsloot Umlazi and all the other policing areas with stubborn crime patterns to be agents and activists against crime.”

Cele said investigations into mass shootings in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu- Natal had resulted in arrests in Bityi, Nomzamo, Pietermaritzburg and KwaNobuhle.

“We welcome the life sentences handed down by the Pietermaritzburg high court on the Glebelands 8, who were behind the killing spree at the Durban hostel,” said Cele.

He said the political task team investigating murders in KwaZulu-Natal was continuing to arrest hitmen and those ordering assassinations of their political rivals.

“The SAPS is and will continue to intensify intelligence-led operations to take down individuals or organised criminals hell-bent on terrorising communities.

“We are enriched by the stabilisation of the crime intelligence division of the SAPS, through the appointment of a divisional commissioner with a wealth of policing and investigative experience.”

Cele said 10,000 additional recruits would be trained and join the police service at the end of this year.

The ministry was fast-tracking legislation aimed at bolstering police work and closing gaps hampering policing, he said.

“One such example is the amendment of the SAPS Act, to strengthen the functioning of community policing forums (CPFs). The amendments will ensure CPFs are provided with resources to enable them to function optimally.”

He said CPFs are the police’s strongest link to communities and play an integral role in the safety partnership being called for, adding that 1,156 police stations have active CPFs.

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