Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. Photo: The Citizen/Nigel Sibanda
Gauteng’s “new crime-busting unit” has been met with mixed feelings by some of the province’s residents, although experts argue police visibility is a beneficial crime-fighting technique which can yield positive results.
At least 4 000 crime prevention wardens are expected to hit the streets of Gauteng on Monday as part of the government’s plan to fight crime in the province.
The wardens will be strategically placed in 361 townships, informal settlements and hostels. Speaking at the launch of the programme, Premier Panyaza Lesufi said fighting crime was a priority of the Gauteng government and despite this initiative not being expected to completely eradicate crime, it was ‘the be-ginning of the answer to crime”.
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Salamina Ntloge, in Ga-Rankuwa northwest of Pretoria, questioned the deployment of the wardens and asked what would be different with them compared the controversial tactical response team (TRT), also known as Amaberethe, whose members had a reputation for assaulting and humiliating innocent people.
“Why are we not fixing the ailing South African Police Service [Saps]? ‘We cannot always resort to new units as soon as the ones we have are tired. We need to ramp up Saps before we even consider bringing on new people,” she said.
“And just like the TRT, these new units always assume power they were never given. Soon after their graduation we’ll see a different story. I know one day they bump into you wandering at night, you will be forced to explain where you’re coming from, they’ll beat you first before explaining their presence.”
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Crime and policing expert Dr Johan Burger said if this was a similar unit to the one in the Western Cape then “this unit will increase police visibility and ensure Gauteng residents feel safe through various law enforcement operations, including street patrolling and timeous response to emergencies and com-munity intelligence gathering”.
“The Saps is under-staffed and they are completely overwhelmed. ‘There was a short dip in 2020 when we had the Covid restrictions and the lockdown, so in other words, we are still continuing the upward trend which started in 2011-2012,” he said.
“So we are in trouble as far as crime is concerned, despite the many announcements made about additional police that will be recruited and then trained. The fact is there’s a huge gap. For two years they did not recruit and train police officers. In fact, police numbers decreased in the last three years.
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“There’s rising levels in terms of population figures and a reduced number of 10 000 to 15 000 police officers.
“Clearly there is huge pressure on the police to provide a presence, and visibility all over the place and they simply can’t do this. The new unit will be able to provide the kind of underground presence needed. That in itself, I think is a very positive thing.”
However, he also noted there should be clear instructions and understanding of their roles, legal mandate and legislation: “the main question then is what the legal mandate will be? In other words, what powers will they have? And the other question is, whose control will they be under? So there are some serious questions the residents need the answers to,” he explained.
Lesufi said the wardens were taught to understand the constitution, criminal justice system and Bill of Rights and were trained to manage crowds and criminal situations.
“Section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Act gives them powers to arrest and make statements in court, and they will be held to account by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.“
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