Durban — Deputy Provincial Commissioner Major-General Phumelele Makoba said policies and laws alone could not reduce crime.
She said this at the very first KwaZulu-Natal community policing Indaba. The two-day event started on Thursday and will end on Friday. It is being held at Garden Court, Marine Parade. The Indaba is aimed to strengthen the relationship between the police and communities.
Major-General Makoba said this was why it was important for there to be unity between communities, the police and the government departments that were fighting crime.
“Community-based policing is an approach that is intended to involve every citizen in the country to take part in the fight against crime through the establishment of community policing forums,” she said.
She said the aim of developing a community policing strategy was to restore the relationship between the police and the community. She added that it had been noted that the existing policies and other legislation had not been affected in a manner that brought harmonius relationships between the SAPS and communities.
“This is established by the number of complaints against the police that are received from all communities. The lack of effective collaboration between the different spheres of government as well as community structures and the police severely reduces the effectiveness of community policing initiatives,” said Major-General Makoba.
When trust was restored in communities they would be able to come to the police with solutions and ways to reduce crime.
“It would even be possible to finish it,” she said.
Furthermore, CPF provincial chairperson Mabutho Mtshali said they were seeing that the police in the province were really concerned about crime.
“We want to change that people always refer to this province or associate it with violence. As the new board elected in June this year. We are going to do exactly what we were elected for,” he said.
Recently, Police Minister Bheki Cele said the majority of killings took place in KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, with arguments, vigilantism and robberies topping the motive list for murder.
He said the province had 1 589 murders, while the Western Cape recorded 872 and Gauteng had 1 556 murders.
“KwaZulu-Natal also reported the highest figures of multiple-murder cases, followed by the Eastern Cape with 206 and 155 victims respectively,” said Cele.
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