Issued by: Secretariat for Safety and Security
DATE: 16 JULY 1996
I wish to congratulate the South African Police Service Tracking Teams who have worked around the clock over the last month in apprehending people suspected of having committed serious crimes. This sort of commitment augurs well for the successful implementation of the Police Plan and the National Crime Prevention Strategy.
It is however unfortunate that the plan was launched with the media hype promising ten thousand arrests. The Promised ten thousand arrests over the first thirty days was not one of the objectives around the implementation of the plan. The fact that the service has fallen short of its promised number of arrests has therefor unfortunately harmed the credibility of the plan.
It is important to note that the plan took almost six months to prepare. It was carefully considered with its priorities and objectives having been canvassed with all significant role-players. The service will be required to make known what the plans key performance indicators are so that the public can assess whether the plan is being implemented successfully. It is against these indicators, and not ill-conceived media statements that the plan should be measured. The National Commissioner will be required to report to Parliament after one year when the plan has been evaluated as a whole.
I have also noted that the SAPS has not been able to confirm whether any of the most wanted criminals have been arrested over the last month. I hope that these details will be forthcoming soon.
My office will monitor these and other arrests in order to determine what percentage of the people being arrested are appearing in court and being successfully prosecuted.
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