Police Minister Bheki Cele has expressed confidence that the additional 10 000 police officers who will be on the ground this week will deal a “heavy blow” to crime this festive season.
This, as police strategic interventions such as Operation Shanela saw police go head-to-head with alleged hard core criminals with more than 62 of the criminals killed during shoot-outs with police.
Thousands of suspects have also been arrested for various serious crimes with the latest incident being Sunday morning when a high profile taxi boss allegedly linked to various crimes in and around Cape Town was arrested at a hiding place in Pretoria.
He will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday facing a possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition charge.
Speaking at a police ministry festive season media briefing on Sunday about on-going and planned policing interventions, Cele said police have declared war on anyone or any groupings who opt to use violence for their criminal gains.
He said they were ready for criminals including Cash in Transit opportunists who will go to any lengths to get their hands on money.
“With just 15 days to go before Christmas Day, the police ministry and police management would like to outright assure the nation that all hands are on deck for the police to protect citizens and their properties.
“In the coming days, the bite of the police will be stronger, as we welcome into the police service 10 000 new officers.
“The police recruitment office successfully processed 600 000 of these applications and embarked on a rigorous recruitment drive.
“We are now in the second phase of enlisting 10 000 police officers, who will be graduating from various police academies throughout the country in the coming week.
“This means there will be more boots on the ground come December 15 when the last passing out parade takes place in Tshwane,” he said. According to Cele, police trainees have for the past months been stationed at police academies across the country and hard at work in street survival courses, firearm, law and physical training during their completion of the basic police development learning programme.
“We have no doubt, the new members will provide a much needed boost to the current policing numbers and amplify our law enforcing efforts.
“These officers will be deployed to sanitise the streets and increase the footprint of the police in all nine provinces.
“Their deployment will be prioritised, especially in high crowd zones and areas of entertainment and leisure this holiday season.
“Over time and with guidance, these officers will no doubt be a valuable addition to the service and build on to the capacity of the service,” said Cele.
Cape Times