The game's up - that was the message from Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete to criminals today as he spelled out to Parliament a "ruthless" crackdown on crime. The strategy hammered out includes roadblocks, cordoned-off areas and search operations. And there is a plan for an FBI-style agency to probe serious crime.
Tshwete said the past five years had been spent formulating strategies against crime and amalgamating various police forces inherited from the apartheid past. "What is required now is a ruthless implementation of that plan as a matter of urgency. We are ready, more than ever before, not just to send a message to criminals out there about our intentions, but more importantly to make them feel that 'die tyd vir speletjies in nou verby' (the time for play is over)," Tshwete said."In the process, ordinary law-abiding citizens might be inconvenienced and we would like to appeal to them to understand why we are stepping up this kind of action." He said the Government was adopting an inter-departmental approach to fighting crime.
The ministers of justice and constitutional development, safety and security, correctional services and home affairs would meet once a fortnight to draw up reports for the Cabinet on the progress of the battle and co-operate in investigating cases. This committee will involve the national Directorate of Public Prosecutions in the investigation of a crime and its successful presentation to the courts.
Tshwete said plans were under way to establish a structure to investigate priority crimes announced by President Thabo Mbeki during his address to Parliament last week. He said the structure would be similar to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) in the United States. He was confident they would be able to report to the president on this structure in less than two weeks. "The new structure will focus - with the back-up of highly skilled personnel, effective equipment, adequate resources - on crime intelligence-gathering, investigation and prosecution of persons and groups committing or involved in priority crimes," Tshwete said.
On Friday Mbeki listed such areas as Mitchell's Plain in Cape Town, Inanda in KwaZulu Natal and Katlehong in Gauteng as having the highest concentrations of crime in South Africa. He said multi-disciplinary intervention would be implemented to reduce the levels of crime in these areas. Tshwete told Parliament on Monday that such operations had already begun.
Source: IoL
No comments:
Post a Comment