Date: 27/02/2003
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Mokonyane: Response to State of the Province Address - Gauteng
ADDRESS BY GAUTENG SAFETY AND LIAISON MEC NOMVULA MOKONYANE TO THE LEGISLATURE ON THE DEBATE OF PREMIER'S OPENING ADDRESS ON THURSDAY, 27 February 2003
Speaker,
Premier,
Members of the House
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Safety and Liaison has made an undertaking that it will contribute to the process of making better the lives of our people through interaction and partnerships with various stakeholders. In order to achieve this a number of initiatives have been planned for this year and our emphasis will be mainly on strengthening and consolidating gains made from a law-enforcement and crime prevention point of view.
The police have made a significant impact on reducing certain types of violent and serious crimes. The challenge now is to enhance the process of coordination and the implementation of social crime prevention initiatives to deal with core issues that contribute to the occurrence of crime.
Policing in Gauteng
The President has made reference to the fact that crime in the country has decreased and this is an indication that interventions implemented by government are beginning to bear results. In Gauteng we have also seen a decrease in various crimes, which for some time have given police and other law enforcement agencies sleepless nights.
During the past six months we have seen a significant decrease in crimes such as hijacking of motor vehicles, rape and attempted rape, fraud, robbery in residential premises, burglary in business premises, robbery in business premises and hijacking of trucks.
The decrease in these crimes has been realised out of a concerted effort by police to strengthen their intelligence capacity and ongoing targeted operations in certain areas within the province that are known to be problematic.
During this period various crimes such as assault GBH, burglary residential areas, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, theft out of motor vehicles, and theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles have been stabilised.
The challenge we facing now is to bring down these crimes to acceptable levels and this is will be made possible with the coordination of efforts between various law enforcement agencies.
Whilst we have seen a decrease and stabilisation of certain categories of crime, there are those that have increased and these are attempted murder, common assault, malicious damage to property, other robbery, other thefts and indecent assault.
In order to stabilise and ultimately decrease such crimes, stations that contribute towards high crime in the province have been identified in various policing areas and police management has worked out interventions to collectively deal with problematic stations in a more holistic way.
The establishment of sector poling in various stations throughout the province has greatly assisted in bringing down the levels of crime and to improve planning on the part of police in consultation with stakeholders within each sector. Sector forums have been established to facilitate proper consultation and interaction between police and members of the community within each sector.
A training programme for sector managers has been introduced and the implementation thereof is ongoing. Where sector policing has been established we witnessed greater co-operation and interaction between members of the community and police.
In an effort to stabilise certain areas within the province, there will be a high concentration on priority stations within the province in order to:
* Continue with operations such as roadblocks and cordon and search operations as part of Operation Crackdown;
* Enhance special tracing teams to arrest persons for whom warrants of arrest have been issued for serious and violent crimes;
* Improve our intelligence capacity around the profiling of criminal syndicates in the priority stations; and
* Implement a zero-tolerance approach towards less serious crimes
The recruitment of new police officials will continue for the financial year and by February 2004 the province would have recruited about 2034 new recruits. While this number may seem too little, we are convinced that with the personnel and resources that police have at their disposal, they will be able to contain crime.
Since the ANC government came to power we made a pledge that we would improve the working environment for police officers by investing in victim friendly and ergonomically sound infrastructure targeting areas that were previously neglected. I am happy announce that Alexandra Police Station has been completed and will be officially opened on the 20th of March 2003.
Together with the South African Police Services we have prioritised areas where construction of new police stations will take place. The following areas have been prioritised based on needs and problems experienced by police and members of the community: Diepsloot, Thokoza, Duduza, Tsakane, Mamelodi, Eersterust and Kagiso. We have also identified eight (8) police stations that will be fully renovated in order to change conditions for the better.
The establishment of the three metropolitan police departments has resulted in a significant increase of police visibility and the discharge of police to respond to emergency calls where they would normally be patrolling freeways and motorways.
The Johannesburg MPD has considerably increased its personnel since its inception and now has 2523 and planning to recruit about 200 new personnel and will have a total of about 598 vehicles. The Ekurhuleni and Tshwane MPDs will also be able to increase their human resource capacity and their material resources.
A workshop was held from 24 to 26 March 2002 to discuss and develop a joint planning and coordinating mechanism between the different law enforcement agencies. The development of a Provincial Coordinating Committee, which is chaired by the Provincial Commissioner, has resulted in a joint planning mechanism between the different Metropolitan Police Departments and the SAPS areas in which they operate. In a way this approach also looked at cross boundary planning to ensure that boundaries do not impede operational imperatives.
This has yielded good results in most areas. The province is now able to implement joint operations based on consultation and information sharing between the various law enforcement agencies.
This approach has contributed significantly to crime reduction and has enhanced police visibility. A number of crime intelligence driven joint operations will be carried out in the year under discussion.
The establishment of by-laws by various metropolitan police departments within the province is in its final stage and these will be consolidated after the public has made comments. Once this process has been finalised, various MPDs will enforce by-laws and people found to have transgressed such laws would be dealt with.
Nonetheless the enforcement of city by-laws to prevent crime from occurring, are being applied to those that transgress the rule of law. This has been evident in ongoing operations carried out in Soweto and the Johannesburg CBD.
SERVICE DELIVERY
The President in his State of the Nation Address has made reference to the fact that considerable effort to improve service delivery to ordinary people and the entire populace will receive maximum attention.
To this end the department in discharging its constitutional mandate has established a team that will ensure improved levels of service delivery in the Police specifically and the rest of the CJS in general.
The department's service delivery desk comprises 7 teams of three that have been deployed to the seven policing areas to deal with crime prevention, community police relation, monitoring and evaluation of SAPS and the metro police departments and monitoring the management of docket and case flow within the CJS on cases related to violence and abuse of women and children.
There are currently three mobile caravans in Pretoria, Vaal-Rand and West Rand that service the peri-urban communities. Four more mobile caravans will be purchased to ensure accessibility to services for those formal and informal settlements that have inadequate access to policing facilities and services. Our primary target has been those peri-urban areas and those that have expanded. This will further impact positively in the realisation of our rural safety plan.
This team has literally been a source of inspiration to both the members of the public and the justice fraternity in that they have tended to bring hope and a level of professionalism in areas of customer service.
The Dieplsoot Justice-on-wheels project is now operational with services ranging from home affairs, justice, prosecutorial, corrections and policing.
On the basis of the findings of both the West Rand and Vaal-Rand diagnostic audits conducted by the department, special emphasis will be placed to ensure improved service delivery in the province. Recommendations have been made to the Provincial Commissioner, the National Commissioner and the national Minister to address the issues that give rise to poor service delivery that cannot be implemented by provincial government.
A provincial task team has been established to oversee and ensure the implementation of short to medium-term corrective measures that will address a range of issues that hamper effective service delivery within the service.
A number of police stations and specialised units will be visited from time to time with a view to determine the quality, effectiveness and efficiency on the part of the police in so far as the delivery of policing services to our people is concerned. It is important to understand the problem faced by both the police and the community to enable us to make appropriate interventions.
COMMUNITY POLICE RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY AWARENESS
Premier, as part of ensuring that we improve community police relations and have communities taking part in local crime prevention initiatives we have identified key aspects that contribute to the breakdown of relations and thus exacerbate the prevalence of crime.
Our commitment as government to ensure that people whose lives are endangered by criminal activity will continue to be a priority as we go to communities to solicit their participation in fighting crime.
Our concerns regarding the approach in the application of the witness protection programme were discussed with the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions and significant changes and improvement has been realised. The success of our people and police in fighting crime is also dependant on the communities approach and attitude towards crime and its reduction.
In partnership with various local authorities, community based organisations, and various stakeholders we have embarked on a process of establishing Community Safety Forums (CSF) and will initially pilot this concept in Tshwane and the Vaal. The benefits of creating such forums will contribute immensely in dealing with factors that contribute negatively towards crime and rehabilitation. This body unlike the Community Police Forums will deal with issues that relate to the entire CJS and help in assisting the system from an all-encompassing perspective.
A consultative workshop with key stakeholders within the province will be held on the 15 March 2003 in order to finalise the process of establishing community safety forums in the province.
The withdrawal of cases in various courts based on number of contributory factors has immeasurable implications for dealing with crime and making sure that perpetrators are punished for their actions.
Through the vigorous policing methods and constant provision of information by members of the public to the police we are determined that those who continue to anguish our people will find themselves in prison more rapidly. Those that engage in white-collar crime will not be spared the wrath of our system. Those that collude with criminals will not be spared either.
Prevention of violence and abuse of vulnerable groups.
As part of an ongoing programme in dealing with crime and violence experienced by vulnerable groups, the implementation of the prevention strategy on violence and abuse of women and children will be carried out and certain areas as identified in crime pattern analysis, will receive maximum attention.
The Premier in his address made mention of the fact that the province has approved this strategy whose main focus will be the provision of basic services to victims of violence and abuse. In this regard plans to open the Ikhaya Lethemba One Stop Centre based in Braamfontein are going very well.
The centre will be formally opened in the month of August - women's month. Ikhaya Lethemba will be a one-stop service centre for the victims of violence and sexual abuse in the City of Johannesburg and its surrounds. This is a very ambitious but realistic project that will ensure sanctuary and other technical services to victims of domestic violence, rape, child abuse and neglect.
In partnership with the SAPS and various business organisations within the private sector such as SAB we will be finalising a process of ensuring that police stations within the province have friendly and accessible Victim Empowerment Rooms.
This partnership has resulted with the establishment of 80 fully functional Victim Empowerment Rooms and 42 non-functional rooms in various police stations throughout the province. These partnerships with the private sector and other communities, will affect functionality of the remaining 40.
Efforts are currently underway to capacitate Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) with necessary resources that will enable members to perform their respective duties to the maximum. The levels of awareness and education about sexual offences have made people to report such crimes and workload of officers has gone up considerably.
The average docket per unit per month is 1500 with Pretoria handling the most 2300 and Carletonville the least 288. The total number of personnel deployed throughout the province is 214 and using 111 vehicles. The study conducted by the Department has shown that resource allocation in this unit has been very disproportional to the prevalence of these crimes. The department will vigorously monitor the process of fully capacitating theses units throughout the province.
Youth Crime Prevention
The continuous interventions in areas such as Westbury to deal with the problem of substance abuse and gang related violence, the youth, with their increased knowledge and awareness of support systems and their ability to deal with problematic peers, have led to the detection of problems and enabled them to deal with problems more effectively.
Through such interventions, many youths have disclosed their habitual drug problems and have been incorporated into the programmes with a reduction in drug consumption.
Speaker, for the past three years government in partnership with various community based organisations and institutions has been focusing on implementing a Safer Schools Policy, which consists of various disciplines. Tiisa Thuto, which is a multi-disciplinary holistic programme, has been designed to reduce crime levels in schools so that learning and teaching can take place in a crime-free environment. Underpinning the Tiisa Thuto Project is the active involvement of educators, learners, parents and school governing bodies' members, which focuses on the following issues:
* Violence in school (drugs, weapons, bullying, vandalism
* Trauma management, Peer counselling, Conflict management
* Parenting skills, Problem solving, Communication skills, Negotiation skills, Citizenship, Health and Environment, and Sports and Arts
The results achieved through the implementation of Tiisa Thuto in Soweto have resulted in rolling out the programme to areas such as Tshwane, Alexandra and East Rand. By the time this project has been finalised, we would have reached and empowered a number of learners, parents and educators with necessary skills and information that will enable them to prevent crime and violence within schooling environment.
Through the project, crime levels in schools will be reduced, allowing effective learning and teaching to take place. This will be achieved through encouraging the full participation of parents and other role-players in establishing and managing safety in schools.
Through the implementation of the Adopt A Cop programme in about 1150 schools throughout the province, police have been able to deal proactively with crime and violence in schools. The appointment of police officers whose responsibility is to coordinate all activities pertaining to Adopt A Cop has enormously improved implementation of crime prevention and awareness programmes for schools. The challenge facing us is to sustain and expand initiatives to other areas where there are problems in certain schools.
Coordination of the Criminal Justice
Our criminal justice process can act as a strong deterrent and complement our crime prevention efforts only when all the components of the criminal justice system act in synchrony in their activities. It is in this vein that, whilst we endeavour to ensure the well functioning of policing agencies in the province, we also ensure that the other criminal justice components also perform their complementary functions with the same diligence.
The management of the flow of dockets from one section of the CJS to another has to be improved. This will ensure improvement in the quality of investigations, the speeding up of the prosecutorial processes and the subsequent increase in conviction rates, especially on crimes that have been prioritised, that is, crime against women and children, serious and violent crimes, and organised crimes.
To this end the department has been closely monitoring this process to identify inherent problems and recommend remedial interventions.
Overcrowding in our prisons is one of the outcomes of the inefficiencies of our criminal justice system. This has been identified as impacted upon by a number of malfunctions in the criminal justice process. The inconsistency in the implementation of policies is one of the contributory factors to inefficiency within the system.
The Department is monitoring and evaluating the level of implementation of the plea bargaining policy, diversion of juveniles from the criminal justice system, the implementation of alternative correctional measures to incarceration.
These measures when correctly implemented will also ensure reductions in the number of awaiting trial prisoners and will also ease the burden on the state to accommodate those that have transgressed the law in cases where they are unable to pay a fine or bail of R200.00.
CHALLENGES:
The challenge of balancing the protection of our farming community in this province and that of enhancing the ability of the formal policing and law enforcement agencies will be addressed by the measures that have been addressed in all the points that have been highlighted here.
As we look at the provision of services by law enforcement agencies we also need to look at the safety of the communities that live and work in these farming communities without favour or prejudice.
The number of atrocities inflicted on our people by criminals and the commando's cannot be ignored. Whilst this government addresses the issue of criminality and the safety of people living in farming communities, the police and other law enforcement agencies need to be held accountable for policing and law enforcement in general.
For different groups the criminal can be described in different terms. A criminal is a criminal regardless of the protection they receive from the community or a section of a particular community. For some the commandos have provided stability and safety, for others they have been a source of misery and pain. As a responsible government we have a duty to protect all citizens and we will discharge that duty without any prejudice to all sectors of society.
For more information contact: Mongezi Mnyani on (0110 355 1829 / 082 909 3390
Issued by Department of Safety and Liaison, Gauteng Provincial Government
27 February 2003
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Mokonyane: Response to State of the Province Address - Gauteng
ADDRESS BY GAUTENG SAFETY AND LIAISON MEC NOMVULA MOKONYANE TO THE LEGISLATURE ON THE DEBATE OF PREMIER'S OPENING ADDRESS ON THURSDAY, 27 February 2003
Speaker,
Premier,
Members of the House
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Safety and Liaison has made an undertaking that it will contribute to the process of making better the lives of our people through interaction and partnerships with various stakeholders. In order to achieve this a number of initiatives have been planned for this year and our emphasis will be mainly on strengthening and consolidating gains made from a law-enforcement and crime prevention point of view.
The police have made a significant impact on reducing certain types of violent and serious crimes. The challenge now is to enhance the process of coordination and the implementation of social crime prevention initiatives to deal with core issues that contribute to the occurrence of crime.
Policing in Gauteng
The President has made reference to the fact that crime in the country has decreased and this is an indication that interventions implemented by government are beginning to bear results. In Gauteng we have also seen a decrease in various crimes, which for some time have given police and other law enforcement agencies sleepless nights.
During the past six months we have seen a significant decrease in crimes such as hijacking of motor vehicles, rape and attempted rape, fraud, robbery in residential premises, burglary in business premises, robbery in business premises and hijacking of trucks.
The decrease in these crimes has been realised out of a concerted effort by police to strengthen their intelligence capacity and ongoing targeted operations in certain areas within the province that are known to be problematic.
During this period various crimes such as assault GBH, burglary residential areas, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, theft out of motor vehicles, and theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles have been stabilised.
The challenge we facing now is to bring down these crimes to acceptable levels and this is will be made possible with the coordination of efforts between various law enforcement agencies.
Whilst we have seen a decrease and stabilisation of certain categories of crime, there are those that have increased and these are attempted murder, common assault, malicious damage to property, other robbery, other thefts and indecent assault.
In order to stabilise and ultimately decrease such crimes, stations that contribute towards high crime in the province have been identified in various policing areas and police management has worked out interventions to collectively deal with problematic stations in a more holistic way.
The establishment of sector poling in various stations throughout the province has greatly assisted in bringing down the levels of crime and to improve planning on the part of police in consultation with stakeholders within each sector. Sector forums have been established to facilitate proper consultation and interaction between police and members of the community within each sector.
A training programme for sector managers has been introduced and the implementation thereof is ongoing. Where sector policing has been established we witnessed greater co-operation and interaction between members of the community and police.
In an effort to stabilise certain areas within the province, there will be a high concentration on priority stations within the province in order to:
* Continue with operations such as roadblocks and cordon and search operations as part of Operation Crackdown;
* Enhance special tracing teams to arrest persons for whom warrants of arrest have been issued for serious and violent crimes;
* Improve our intelligence capacity around the profiling of criminal syndicates in the priority stations; and
* Implement a zero-tolerance approach towards less serious crimes
The recruitment of new police officials will continue for the financial year and by February 2004 the province would have recruited about 2034 new recruits. While this number may seem too little, we are convinced that with the personnel and resources that police have at their disposal, they will be able to contain crime.
Since the ANC government came to power we made a pledge that we would improve the working environment for police officers by investing in victim friendly and ergonomically sound infrastructure targeting areas that were previously neglected. I am happy announce that Alexandra Police Station has been completed and will be officially opened on the 20th of March 2003.
Together with the South African Police Services we have prioritised areas where construction of new police stations will take place. The following areas have been prioritised based on needs and problems experienced by police and members of the community: Diepsloot, Thokoza, Duduza, Tsakane, Mamelodi, Eersterust and Kagiso. We have also identified eight (8) police stations that will be fully renovated in order to change conditions for the better.
The establishment of the three metropolitan police departments has resulted in a significant increase of police visibility and the discharge of police to respond to emergency calls where they would normally be patrolling freeways and motorways.
The Johannesburg MPD has considerably increased its personnel since its inception and now has 2523 and planning to recruit about 200 new personnel and will have a total of about 598 vehicles. The Ekurhuleni and Tshwane MPDs will also be able to increase their human resource capacity and their material resources.
A workshop was held from 24 to 26 March 2002 to discuss and develop a joint planning and coordinating mechanism between the different law enforcement agencies. The development of a Provincial Coordinating Committee, which is chaired by the Provincial Commissioner, has resulted in a joint planning mechanism between the different Metropolitan Police Departments and the SAPS areas in which they operate. In a way this approach also looked at cross boundary planning to ensure that boundaries do not impede operational imperatives.
This has yielded good results in most areas. The province is now able to implement joint operations based on consultation and information sharing between the various law enforcement agencies.
This approach has contributed significantly to crime reduction and has enhanced police visibility. A number of crime intelligence driven joint operations will be carried out in the year under discussion.
The establishment of by-laws by various metropolitan police departments within the province is in its final stage and these will be consolidated after the public has made comments. Once this process has been finalised, various MPDs will enforce by-laws and people found to have transgressed such laws would be dealt with.
Nonetheless the enforcement of city by-laws to prevent crime from occurring, are being applied to those that transgress the rule of law. This has been evident in ongoing operations carried out in Soweto and the Johannesburg CBD.
SERVICE DELIVERY
The President in his State of the Nation Address has made reference to the fact that considerable effort to improve service delivery to ordinary people and the entire populace will receive maximum attention.
To this end the department in discharging its constitutional mandate has established a team that will ensure improved levels of service delivery in the Police specifically and the rest of the CJS in general.
The department's service delivery desk comprises 7 teams of three that have been deployed to the seven policing areas to deal with crime prevention, community police relation, monitoring and evaluation of SAPS and the metro police departments and monitoring the management of docket and case flow within the CJS on cases related to violence and abuse of women and children.
There are currently three mobile caravans in Pretoria, Vaal-Rand and West Rand that service the peri-urban communities. Four more mobile caravans will be purchased to ensure accessibility to services for those formal and informal settlements that have inadequate access to policing facilities and services. Our primary target has been those peri-urban areas and those that have expanded. This will further impact positively in the realisation of our rural safety plan.
This team has literally been a source of inspiration to both the members of the public and the justice fraternity in that they have tended to bring hope and a level of professionalism in areas of customer service.
The Dieplsoot Justice-on-wheels project is now operational with services ranging from home affairs, justice, prosecutorial, corrections and policing.
On the basis of the findings of both the West Rand and Vaal-Rand diagnostic audits conducted by the department, special emphasis will be placed to ensure improved service delivery in the province. Recommendations have been made to the Provincial Commissioner, the National Commissioner and the national Minister to address the issues that give rise to poor service delivery that cannot be implemented by provincial government.
A provincial task team has been established to oversee and ensure the implementation of short to medium-term corrective measures that will address a range of issues that hamper effective service delivery within the service.
A number of police stations and specialised units will be visited from time to time with a view to determine the quality, effectiveness and efficiency on the part of the police in so far as the delivery of policing services to our people is concerned. It is important to understand the problem faced by both the police and the community to enable us to make appropriate interventions.
COMMUNITY POLICE RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY AWARENESS
Premier, as part of ensuring that we improve community police relations and have communities taking part in local crime prevention initiatives we have identified key aspects that contribute to the breakdown of relations and thus exacerbate the prevalence of crime.
Our commitment as government to ensure that people whose lives are endangered by criminal activity will continue to be a priority as we go to communities to solicit their participation in fighting crime.
Our concerns regarding the approach in the application of the witness protection programme were discussed with the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions and significant changes and improvement has been realised. The success of our people and police in fighting crime is also dependant on the communities approach and attitude towards crime and its reduction.
In partnership with various local authorities, community based organisations, and various stakeholders we have embarked on a process of establishing Community Safety Forums (CSF) and will initially pilot this concept in Tshwane and the Vaal. The benefits of creating such forums will contribute immensely in dealing with factors that contribute negatively towards crime and rehabilitation. This body unlike the Community Police Forums will deal with issues that relate to the entire CJS and help in assisting the system from an all-encompassing perspective.
A consultative workshop with key stakeholders within the province will be held on the 15 March 2003 in order to finalise the process of establishing community safety forums in the province.
The withdrawal of cases in various courts based on number of contributory factors has immeasurable implications for dealing with crime and making sure that perpetrators are punished for their actions.
Through the vigorous policing methods and constant provision of information by members of the public to the police we are determined that those who continue to anguish our people will find themselves in prison more rapidly. Those that engage in white-collar crime will not be spared the wrath of our system. Those that collude with criminals will not be spared either.
Prevention of violence and abuse of vulnerable groups.
As part of an ongoing programme in dealing with crime and violence experienced by vulnerable groups, the implementation of the prevention strategy on violence and abuse of women and children will be carried out and certain areas as identified in crime pattern analysis, will receive maximum attention.
The Premier in his address made mention of the fact that the province has approved this strategy whose main focus will be the provision of basic services to victims of violence and abuse. In this regard plans to open the Ikhaya Lethemba One Stop Centre based in Braamfontein are going very well.
The centre will be formally opened in the month of August - women's month. Ikhaya Lethemba will be a one-stop service centre for the victims of violence and sexual abuse in the City of Johannesburg and its surrounds. This is a very ambitious but realistic project that will ensure sanctuary and other technical services to victims of domestic violence, rape, child abuse and neglect.
In partnership with the SAPS and various business organisations within the private sector such as SAB we will be finalising a process of ensuring that police stations within the province have friendly and accessible Victim Empowerment Rooms.
This partnership has resulted with the establishment of 80 fully functional Victim Empowerment Rooms and 42 non-functional rooms in various police stations throughout the province. These partnerships with the private sector and other communities, will affect functionality of the remaining 40.
Efforts are currently underway to capacitate Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) with necessary resources that will enable members to perform their respective duties to the maximum. The levels of awareness and education about sexual offences have made people to report such crimes and workload of officers has gone up considerably.
The average docket per unit per month is 1500 with Pretoria handling the most 2300 and Carletonville the least 288. The total number of personnel deployed throughout the province is 214 and using 111 vehicles. The study conducted by the Department has shown that resource allocation in this unit has been very disproportional to the prevalence of these crimes. The department will vigorously monitor the process of fully capacitating theses units throughout the province.
Youth Crime Prevention
The continuous interventions in areas such as Westbury to deal with the problem of substance abuse and gang related violence, the youth, with their increased knowledge and awareness of support systems and their ability to deal with problematic peers, have led to the detection of problems and enabled them to deal with problems more effectively.
Through such interventions, many youths have disclosed their habitual drug problems and have been incorporated into the programmes with a reduction in drug consumption.
Speaker, for the past three years government in partnership with various community based organisations and institutions has been focusing on implementing a Safer Schools Policy, which consists of various disciplines. Tiisa Thuto, which is a multi-disciplinary holistic programme, has been designed to reduce crime levels in schools so that learning and teaching can take place in a crime-free environment. Underpinning the Tiisa Thuto Project is the active involvement of educators, learners, parents and school governing bodies' members, which focuses on the following issues:
* Violence in school (drugs, weapons, bullying, vandalism
* Trauma management, Peer counselling, Conflict management
* Parenting skills, Problem solving, Communication skills, Negotiation skills, Citizenship, Health and Environment, and Sports and Arts
The results achieved through the implementation of Tiisa Thuto in Soweto have resulted in rolling out the programme to areas such as Tshwane, Alexandra and East Rand. By the time this project has been finalised, we would have reached and empowered a number of learners, parents and educators with necessary skills and information that will enable them to prevent crime and violence within schooling environment.
Through the project, crime levels in schools will be reduced, allowing effective learning and teaching to take place. This will be achieved through encouraging the full participation of parents and other role-players in establishing and managing safety in schools.
Through the implementation of the Adopt A Cop programme in about 1150 schools throughout the province, police have been able to deal proactively with crime and violence in schools. The appointment of police officers whose responsibility is to coordinate all activities pertaining to Adopt A Cop has enormously improved implementation of crime prevention and awareness programmes for schools. The challenge facing us is to sustain and expand initiatives to other areas where there are problems in certain schools.
Coordination of the Criminal Justice
Our criminal justice process can act as a strong deterrent and complement our crime prevention efforts only when all the components of the criminal justice system act in synchrony in their activities. It is in this vein that, whilst we endeavour to ensure the well functioning of policing agencies in the province, we also ensure that the other criminal justice components also perform their complementary functions with the same diligence.
The management of the flow of dockets from one section of the CJS to another has to be improved. This will ensure improvement in the quality of investigations, the speeding up of the prosecutorial processes and the subsequent increase in conviction rates, especially on crimes that have been prioritised, that is, crime against women and children, serious and violent crimes, and organised crimes.
To this end the department has been closely monitoring this process to identify inherent problems and recommend remedial interventions.
Overcrowding in our prisons is one of the outcomes of the inefficiencies of our criminal justice system. This has been identified as impacted upon by a number of malfunctions in the criminal justice process. The inconsistency in the implementation of policies is one of the contributory factors to inefficiency within the system.
The Department is monitoring and evaluating the level of implementation of the plea bargaining policy, diversion of juveniles from the criminal justice system, the implementation of alternative correctional measures to incarceration.
These measures when correctly implemented will also ensure reductions in the number of awaiting trial prisoners and will also ease the burden on the state to accommodate those that have transgressed the law in cases where they are unable to pay a fine or bail of R200.00.
CHALLENGES:
The challenge of balancing the protection of our farming community in this province and that of enhancing the ability of the formal policing and law enforcement agencies will be addressed by the measures that have been addressed in all the points that have been highlighted here.
As we look at the provision of services by law enforcement agencies we also need to look at the safety of the communities that live and work in these farming communities without favour or prejudice.
The number of atrocities inflicted on our people by criminals and the commando's cannot be ignored. Whilst this government addresses the issue of criminality and the safety of people living in farming communities, the police and other law enforcement agencies need to be held accountable for policing and law enforcement in general.
For different groups the criminal can be described in different terms. A criminal is a criminal regardless of the protection they receive from the community or a section of a particular community. For some the commandos have provided stability and safety, for others they have been a source of misery and pain. As a responsible government we have a duty to protect all citizens and we will discharge that duty without any prejudice to all sectors of society.
For more information contact: Mongezi Mnyani on (0110 355 1829 / 082 909 3390
Issued by Department of Safety and Liaison, Gauteng Provincial Government
27 February 2003
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