Communities are going to be safe and enjoy this season: Mchunu

The South African Police Service (SAPS) is out in full force across the Cape Town Metro as part of its festive season operations. Police Minister Senzo Mchunu says recent statistics are encouraging as more efforts are made to clamp down on all forms of crime.

More than 2 700 new recruits have been deployed across the country, with the Western Cape getting 940 more police officers.

Safer Festive Seasons operations are taking place countrywide. It will include interventions such as roadblocks and search-and-seizure operations.

The focus is to deter criminal activities and enforce compliance with the law.

“Having launched the season in October and we said to them we’ll be out there guaranteeing them safety and all of that. That was not just, by word of mouth, we are now ensuring that we are on the ground. Now everybody, while everybody speaks and say we want to be safe and so on and so and so on, South African Police are the underwriters. They are here to demonstrate to the nation, that we are underwriting every other commitment by the president, by government, by municipalities, by everybody that communities are going to be safety and enjoy this season,” says Mchunu.

Video: Mchunu joins SAPS on various operations

At a roadblock, a person tried to run from officers and was quickly apprehended with the use of technology including drones. A number of activities are also taking place in areas where gang activities are rife.

“We have deployed our anti-gang unit across the province, across the Cape Flats. They continued with hard work. There is a number of gangs that we have arrested during the past, I counted the figure to 68. So, we will continue this. Unfortunately, that as we round off gangs, as you open up space, they fight again to fill up those spaces. But we will continue this fight to make sure that we clean out the gangs in the Cape Flats. That will continue to it,” says General Fani Masemola, National Police Commissioner.

The City of Cape Town is working closely with police. Over 800 new metro police cadets will also be deployed across the city.

“This festive season, we are working very closely with SAPS. We work with the provincial operation center. So, we are coordinating very closely with SAPS, and we work closely with the provincial commission and a senior management.” Says JP Smith, City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee member for Safety and Security.

The minister will visit the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape over the next few days.