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Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has called on Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA) to improve its reach to as many businesses as possible as part of its partnership with government in fighting crime.

Addressing a BACSA breakfast meeting in Sandton, Gauteng today, Minister Mthethwa explained that among challenges confronting the South African Police Service (SAPS) was the need to improve efforts in bringing down crime within the small business sector.

"In this regard, there are various ongoing projects around the country, whose focus is to look at ways in which to reduce vulnerabilities among the medium and small business environment.

"Without suggesting the overstretching of the resources of business, it is nevertheless crucial that the interpretation of the interests of the business community should also be enlarged to encompass the need for broader social stability, peace and development," said the Minister.

He further emphasised that that would ensure that government and its stakeholders developed interventions that were better focused and had potential for longer term applicability and impact.

Minister Mthethwa explained that crime-fighting initiatives relied on strong partnerships, and that in using the resources, skills and capacity of partners, police could find ways of maximising their strength and at the same time minimising their weaknesses.

"Effective contemporary crime prevention relies heavily on partnerships and multi-agency approaches. These endeavours involve the utilisation of different resources, skills and capacity. Some of these resources and capacities are not available within the police themselves," he added.

In this regard the SAPS and BACSA are engaged in a process of defining and formalising their partnership against crime.

"A draft memorandum has been developed and is being considered by the parties. We envisage that at the end of this process, a memorandum of understanding will be entered into. ," said the Minister.

He also used the occasion to clarify to the business leaders the department's intended amendments to section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

"The amendments to section 49 are aimed at clarifying ambiguities. We need to point out that many in our society, including the media, have sensationalised and misinterpreted this issue. There has been a general failure to recognise that the use of deadly force already applies in the current section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act," Minister Mthethwa explained.

He added that the amendment was not intended to allow for trigger-happy police officers but to assist in ensuring that law enforcement officers understood their responsibilities better.

The proposed changes will leave police in a situation where they will be less open to uncertainty when applying force and the amendments to section 49 speak to police's ability to deal with violent criminals who their lives and those of the public in danger.

BACSA has meanwhile established itself as a dependable partner in the fight against crime in our country and it has a highly capable leadership and clarity of vision.

The Ministry of Police remains immensely proud of its partnership with BACSA.