Pretoria - The Ministry of Police says it will continue its efforts to ensure that the people of South Africa are and do feel safe.
Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko on Friday said one way they intend to achieve this is by focusing on implementing government’s broader strategy, the National Development Plan (NDP).
Adopted by Cabinet in 2012, the NDP calls for the police to be professionalised and supported by a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary National Policing Board to guide a process of transformation.
The NDP also requires senior police managers to be assessed against clear standards to determine whether they have the expertise, skills and integrity required for the posts they hold.
The police, Minister Nhleko said, will also intensify the implementation of the Back to Basics approach to policing, which they say has started to yield positive results.
“The majority of our successes are based on [the NDP] implementation,” Minister Nhleko told the media on Friday after tabling the 2015/16 annual crime stats before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police.
The Back to Basics approach adopted last year is centred on addressing critical organisational concerns. These include the issue of discipline and the manner in which police officers conduct themselves. The approach also talks to enhanced police visibility, which implies more police officers in uniform, thereby minimising opportunities for crime to be committed.
While police have reaffirmed their commitment to fighting crime, Acting National Commissioner of Police Kgomotso Phahlane said the issue of rooting out crime cannot be left only to the police.
“We need to address specific features of crime, with a particular focus on mobilising an active citizenry and inter-governmental leadership with a view to regenerate morality in society,” he said.
He committed to continue forging partnerships with communities and other stakeholders to address some of the challenging crimes such as contact crime, which remains a problem.
In order to monitor the effectiveness of the policing initiatives, the police top brass also confirmed that crime statistics will be released on a quarterly and annual basis. This is in compliance with a Cabinet decision.
“These reports will enable government to monitor, on a more frequent basis, key government targets in the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTFS) and enable a more proactive policing approach,” Minister Nhleko said.
Public safety
The crime stats show that most violence takes place between people who know each other or live in the same communities. In many cases, there is little police can do about this until the crime has already been committed. The best the police can do is respond after a crime has taken place, which is too late.
Stats indicate that there were 623 223 reported contact crimes in this reporting period, while 616 973 where reported in the 2014/15 financial year.
The statistics also point to two key concerning trends related to public safety in South Africa: namely the increase in the murder rate, and a rise in organised crime – including carjacking.
For the reporting period, there were 18 673 murders recorded nationally, up from 17 805 in 2014/15.
Sexual offences decreased by 3.2% with 51 895 cases reported. Robbery with aggravating circumstances increased by 2.7% to 132 527 cases, while common assault went up 2.2% to 164 958 cases. - SAnews.gov.za
