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Introduction

The Premier’s State of the Province Address provided the basis for the Provincial Government’s Programme of Action for the 2016/17 financial year.

In this financial year we will move faster to consolidate our gains and redouble our efforts of building safe and secure communities across the Province.

We will also enhance, increase and accelerate the pace of delivery in dealing decisively with the challenges of trio crimes, social crimes and strengthening of oversight on law enforcement agencies.

Provincial Policing Plan

The Gauteng City Region has adopted a comprehensive Provincial Policing Plan to turn the tide on crime in our province.  The plan seeks to strengthen and enhancing the leadership and managerial capacity to effectively and efficiently reduce drastically the current high levels of crime to manageable levels. It also proposes the reduction of crime and road fatalities by 50% in priority stations and fifteen hazardous locations.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is achievable. A practical example is cities such as Bogota and New York who were able to achieve this milestone over a five-year period without investing more resources. They merely strengthened their intelligence and detective capacity which resulted in them achieving high conviction rates.

Deliverology Method in Policing

The department has identified 40 poor performing policing precincts from the 2015/16 crime statistics.  This resulted in the development of an intervention plan to address challenges these stations are facing. The plan has three focus areas which are increasing the deployment of police service and visibility. On this focus area the plan proposes increasing of personnel and patrol vehicles, improvement of citizen perception towards crime as well as reduction of trio and sexual crimes.

The second focus area is managing crime related to alcohol and drug abuse which is mostly driven by taverns and shebeens. On this focus area the plan proposes to ensure that taverns and shebeens in high crime areas adhere to by-laws and liquor trading regulations. It also proposes to reduce illegal shebeens by 50%.  The third focus area is 50% reduction of pedestrian road fatalities.
Substance Abuse

The Department of Community Safety working with South African Police Service and sister departments will continue to conduct substance abuse and crime prevention initiatives including regular school searches; drug testing, substance abuse awareness campaigns, establishment of school safety desks, prison tour programme which act as a deterrent to crime, training of learners as safety ambassadors, referrals to rehabilitation  and an aftercare programme where former addicts are taken to skills development programmes.

In an effort to deal decisively with the demand and supply of drugs in the province, the department through the Gauteng Law Enforcement Agencies Forum (GLEAF), initiated the establishment of a Drugs Task Team. Since its formation in April last year, the Task Team has recorded a number of successes which include 505 arrests, securing 265 convictions and closure of two drug laboratories.

Social movement against social crime perpetrated against women, children, elderly and LGBTI community

Indeed, together we can move South Africa forward. We remain resolute in doubling our efforts in the mobilisation of community participation and involvement in the war against crime particularly those perpetrated against vulnerable groups.

We have put systems in place to address the challenges faced by these groups which include the establishment of women desks, men as safety promoters, elderly desks, youth desks as well as Ikhaya Lethemba skills development programme were upon exit from the center survivors of abuse are self-reliant.  We are also steadfast in addressing the stigma and challenges facing the LGBTI community.

In August last year, I held a session with the LGBTI community with a view to understand their plight and how as government we can intervene to address it. The session resulted in the formation of a task team to champion the interests of this community.

Strengthening Community Policing (CPF)

Community policing is the first line of defence and a force multiplier in ensuring that our streets and homes are safe at all times. Ladies and gentlemen, if this first line of defence is weak and not properly resourced or capacitated we will not win the battle against crime.

Whilst appreciating the role community policing play in ensuring the safety at vulnerable schools, traffic sites and at Ikhaya Lethemba, there is a serious need to go back to basics. We need to get back into patrolling the streets of our townships, escorting vulnerable residents to bus stops and taxi ranks especially in the early hours of the morning and dark hours of the night when residents come back from work.

This past weekend we held a successful Community Policing Forum Indaba.  During this meeting, we discussed creative ways on how to improve the role of this structure in the fight against crime and I am confident that soon we will reap the fruits of the seed that we have planted in this structure.

Issued by Gauteng Department of Community Safety