‘Fight against transnational organised crime must be prioritised’

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3 minutes

The Hawks say the fight against transnational organised crime must be prioritised in order to reduce South Africa’s high crime rate. This came out on the second day of the National Police Summit under way in Ekurhuleni. The three-day summit is looking at adapting policing strategies to a changing criminal landscape and enhancing crime-fighting methods.

Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya says transnational organised crime includes human trafficking and weapons smuggling in South Africa.

“Transnational organised crime is multi-faceted, you have things like human trafficking. In human trafficking, there is also the element of violence because once trafficked, some of these things are exposed and you have the weapons that move to South Africa and then they come to be used in cash in transit, police killings and the like. Otherwise, most of the organised criminal activities have got this international leg of it,” says Lebeya.

Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Shadrack Sibiya says for too long, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and police detectives have been butting heads and pointing fingers at each other, which has resulted in many unsuccessful criminal prosecutions. He was speaking during the second day of the National Police Summit, which is underway in Ekurhuleni. He says police investigators and NPA need to improve relations to ensure successful prosecutions.

“If we investigate, we arrest, then we need to work together with the NPA in such a way that when a person is prosecuted – we carry on working together to an extent that even when a person is sentenced – correctional services come and rehabilitate the person and have other departments that reintegrate that person back into society. Now this thing of pointing fingers where police points at the NPA and the NPA feels that maybe it’s because the investigation was not conducted properly, I think it is something that is regrettable,” he says.

#sapsHQ [WATCH] National Commissioner General Masemola reflects on the expected outcomes of the #PolicingSummit currently taking place at Emperor’s Palace. He also outlined the strategies we will implement to maintain public trust. NP pic.twitter.com/jTxVxMjI0D

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[WATCH] Police officers have once again been told to defend themselves when confronted with the barrel of a gun. Speaking during the Policing Summit held at Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola says police cannot always fall victim to… pic.twitter.com/EelbFhmmEF

— SABC News (@SABCNews) April 8, 2025