IPUSA applause the Premier of Gauteng for piroritising crime fighting in the province
When Panyaza Lesufi took over as the premier 6 months ago, he spoke with passion, how he intends to fight crime, lawlessness, and vandalism in the province. He told the Gauteng community that this is going to be the apex priority of the province. He spoke first of increasing the crime fighting budget to billions so that more manpower and physical resources are made available to fight crime. He said he wants to see the state -of -the art integrated command center being built in the city. He wants to see the use of drones and cctvs as an additional tool to fight crime. This dream seemed unrealizable then.
In his state of the province address (sopa), he increased the budget for crime fighting. He indicated how many boots to the ground he is going to recruit. How many choppers and drones is he going to source and to fight crime and the use of the cctv for face and vehicle identification purposes.
The announcement today on the pass-out of 6000 Crime Prevention Wardens of whom 3200 will be deployed from the 1st of May 2023 and the other after completing their scheduled training at the end of May, shows how serious he meant when he said he wants to rid the peoples of Gauteng from crime.
The establishment of the Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens is a good thing which will help SAPS in Gauteng province deal with the high levels of crime. the inclusion of the private security industry in the fight against crime is a model one cannot run away from. They both are the force multiplier SAPS should appreciate and use effectively and efficiently to fight crime.
The government of Gauteng has offered the best support ever to those who are trained to fight and combat crime. It is now in their hands to use these resources optimally with the purpose of reducing the levels of crime in the province.
April is the last quarter of the financial year 2022/2023 crime stats which will be released mid-year. IPUSA does not envisage any decline in the crime stats but hope that the introduction of this Crime Prevention Wardens Unit will help in the reduction of crime during the first quarter of crime stats 2023/2024.
ISSUED BY: IPUSA
BETHUEL NEPHTAL NKUNA
CELL: 072 741 7857
president@ipusa.org.za
