President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for more partnerships critical to a successful policing strategy, amid rising public dissatisfaction over unsolved gender-based violence and gun-related cases.
Ramaphosa told a national policing summit on Tuesday that discussions should produce a clear plan on how to “better involve our communities in crime prevention as well as crime detection” and in harnessing the potential of community policing forums.
“Just as crime is an all society problem, overcoming crime must also be an all of society effort. In doing so we must marshall all of our support behind the hardworking men and women of the South African police,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the South African Police Service managed to register successes under extreme conditions, referring to third quarter statistics which showed slight decreases in crime.
“The policing terrain of today is complex but also multifaceted. The police strive to fulfil their mandate in the context of emerging threats and the threats multiply day by day. The threats include transnational organised criminality, illegal mining, extortion syndicates, kidnapping syndicates and money laundering,” he said.
The latest crime statistics showed a general decrease in kidnapping, cash-in-transit heist and stock theft, but there was a concerning trend of higher cases of assault, rape and gun-related murders in densely populated metros in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.
“We need to improve the relationship between the police and the communities that the police serve. That is why it is so important for this very first police summit to not be a boys and girls club of the police but it should be the key stakeholders in our communities who are going to participate in coming up with clear strategies of how we should tackle criminality in our country,” Ramaphosa said.
The police summit, attended by academics, police officials and civil organisations, comes criticism against police for allegedly mishandling the rape case of a schoolgirl in the Eastern Cape.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu sought to give assurance at a media briefing last Friday that a “thorough investigation” was ongoing but received backlash after admitting that DNA tests had not been taken from the principal at the child’s school.
Mchunu outlined the police’s efforts to apprehend the perpetrator since the investigation began last October, was subsequently closed by the state prosecutor citing lack of evidence, and reopened in February following advocacy from the victim’s mother. He conceded that “the docket could have been better prepared”.
On Tuesday, Ramaphosa said a holistic approach to improving policing included deepened collaboration with communities and business, uplifting police morale, as well as exploring the role of technology and CCTV surveillance in investigation, crime intelligence and facilitating access to the police through mobile apps and online emergency systems.
“Particularly where we face constraints of having boots on the ground, where we can’t have as many boots on the ground we need to use technology. Technology is there and it is able to utilise the modern applications of artificial intelligence to enable our sense of safety. And that is what we need to do,” he said.
Last week, parliament’s portfolio committee on police quizzed Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile about comments he made to the media in February that there was “no need to call in the military” to grapple with crime in the province because this “would give gangs a status”. Committee members expressed disappointment at the low number of convictions and ongoing gang-related crimes.
On Tuesday, Ramaphosa said building on existing best practices and developing sustainable cooperative models that delivered measurable results should be the outcome of the national police summit.
“We need to harness this huge enthusiasm that [citizens] have, but we need to harness it as the police, as various sectors of society, be it business, be it trade unions, be it religious organisations, we need to harness that. But the police must be at the forefront and be willing to assist, to support, willing to act together. They must demonstrate compassion and they must demonstrate respect for our fellow citizens”, he said.
