Masemola lists police’s accomplishments, as crime increases in SA

National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola on Friday tried to highlight some of the successes of the South African Police Service (Saps).

Masemola was addressing the media about the police’s safer festive season operations over the holiday period.

While specifying how police would keep South Africans safe, he took the opportunity to highlight certain success stories from 2022.

Mass shootings

A spate of mass shootings plagued South Africa in 2022.

Masemola said of the 32 cases of reported mass shootings, nine are currently before court. He added that 25 suspects had been arrested and charged.

If nine of the cases are before court right now, it means more than 70% of the cases are not. It’s debatable whether this can be classified as a success.

The National Police Commissioner also highlighted the arrest of four suspects in connection with the murder of seven family members in Bityi, in the Eastern Cape.

The victims were murdered while mourning and preparing for the burial of a slain relative, Novotile Mgxada, 62.

ALSO READ: Seven EC mourners gunned down, preparing funeral for another relative

International crime organisations

Masemola also highlighted the arrests of wanted fugitives in South Africa.

He said 10 Nigerian men were arrested in connection with the international romance scam run by the Black Axe syndicate.

The men are accused of engaging in fraud, money laundering and racketeering through the internet. The Black Axe syndicate uses dating websites to scam women out of millions of dollars.

“The successful detection and arrest of the Black Axe organised criminal gang which is accused of swindling multiple individuals and companies in the USA of millions of dollars are among the successes achieved by Interpol,” he said.

ALSO READ: SA prosecutor awarded medal by US Secret Service for romance scam case

He also mentioned the arrest of the Israeli gang leader in November.

The 46-year-old Israeli fugitive – dubbed Israel’s “most wanted” gang leader – was arrested with seven others at a house in Bryanston, north of Johannesburg.

The suspect had been on Interpol’s wanted list since 2015.

“The continuous arrest of wanted fugitives in the country should send a stern warning to all, that South Africa is not a playground and hiding place for criminals, either they hand themselves in or we fetch them,” said Masemola.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Israel’s ‘most wanted’ gang leader among eight nabbed in Bryanston

The police commissioner’s words, however, ring hollow when South Africa is ranked as a prominent destination for international criminal organisations by the Global Organised Crime Index.

Drug busts

Masemola also commended South Africa’s police for two major drug busts in the country this year.

The first was the R400 million cocaine bust, when a truck was intercepted on the N1 highway in the Western Cape.

The second was seizing cocaine worth R29.3 million in a truck in Mpumalanga. The truck entered South Africa from Mozambique.

Despite these high-profile busts, an academic report published by Shaka Yesufu, from the University of Limpopo, in June 2022, states that South Africa remains a major supplier and recipient of narcotics.

It also acts as a conduit route for the supply and transportation of drugs globally.

Rhino poaching

Masemola lauded the arrest of nine suspects believed to be part of a rhino poaching syndicate.

This brings the total number of suspects arrested in this case to 11, after two other suspects belonging to the same syndicate were nabbed in April.

Criminologist Dr Witness Maluleka told The Citizen that despite some imprisonments for poaching-related offences, the conventional methods have failed to stop the atrocious carnage of rhinos.

“This is not only a South African concern but for many countries globally. The poachers in question were familiar with the surroundings and operations and took full advantage of that, they utilised costly, sophisticated methods and high-powered weapons to commit the crime in question,” he said.

Crime statistics

In November, Police Minister Bheki Cele released the crime stats for the period between 1 July and 30 September 2022.

It showed that murders, rapes and kidnappings had all increased when compared to the year before.

Cases of attempted murder and gender-based violence had also seen double-digit percentage increases.

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