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Partnerships between public and private role players are needed to fight crime more
effectively, with "many voices echoing the same message".
TO prevent major crimes from happening,
Joburg is ready to tackle every small crime tooth and nail.
The City's member of the mayoral committee for community safety, Elgina Ndhlovu
These were the words of the City's member
of the mayoral committee for community safety, Elgina Ndhlovu, at the Gauteng
Public and Private Security Sector Practitioners Workshop on Tuesday, 6 October
at the Oppenheimer Conference Centre, Gold Reef City.
"We will have to go back to the drawing
board and realign our message. A critical message for us is crime prevention
and we are aiming to look at the causes of crime in order to prevent it."
The roots of crime included shebeens that
operated unlawfully, people setting up market stalls in areas that were
prohibited by the City's by-laws and reckless drivers.
Regarding reckless drivers, the metro
police was continuing its Operation Nomakanjani, which began in the inner city
in March.
Through it, the police have cut reckless
and dangerous driving and are strictly enforcing traffic laws. Those arrested
have had their vehicles confiscated and must pay a fine of R600 to have the
vehicles released.
"By so doing we are preventing crime from
happening, especially during holidays," Ndhlovu concluded.
Way forward
Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane also attended the workshop, and she invited public
and private companies responsible for community safety to talk about a way
forward in combating crime.
As she spoke, police officials and others
took out their note pads and wrote down valid points. She raised concerns about
the City's and the province's readiness to host one of the biggest sporting
events in the world, the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.
Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane invited public and private companies responsible for community safety to talk about ways to combat crime
"As much as we think we are ready, we need
to improve our capacity. Of much concern is that Gauteng
Province accounts for up to 50 percent
of the crimes committed in the whole of South Africa."
She said the province needed to have one
message against crime and many voices echoing the same message.
"A message of safe, secure and prosperous South Africa -
that is the message that needs our many voices, but we need to move beyond many
voices to common action," Mokonyane said to a cheering crowd.
She also raised the point that crime in the
province and the rest of the country was getting more and more violent and
aggravated while the public's confidence in law enforcement agencies and the
criminal justice system was at an all-time low.
Integrity
"We must reclaim and bring back the integrity of the police in Gauteng," she said. "As
the SAPS [South African Police Service] we need to put a mirror in front of us
and say, ‘Can I sell myself to the Republic of South Africa?' ... Our people must
not feel that our sell-by date has passed; we still need to be relevant in
today's society."
Private security industry representatives
were also present to hear how they could help combat crime in Joburg and the
rest of the province. The industry has come on board and is partnering with the
SAPS to fight crime and improve security.
It recognises that although the SAPS is the
most important role player to improve security in Gauteng, there are a number
of other role players that can make a valuable contribution, according to a
press release from the Gauteng community safety department.
Other burning issues that were discussed at
the workshop included the strengthening of the regulatory framework for the
private security industry, developing incentives and addressing key challenges
to co-operation between public and private security agencies.
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