Police are ready to protect citizens this festive season

The Operation Duty Calls official launch of the South African Police Service (SAPS) was unveiled during their Festive Season Crime-Fighting campaign on October 23, Thursday at the Mahashini grounds in Wembezi.Before the launch proceedings took place, the crowd was entertained with an energetic performance by a former member of the Joyous Celebration Gospel Choir as well as other talented local acts, such as dance performances.

Then an alert was signalled that the guests had arrived. The Minister of Police Nkosinathi Nhleko, Deputy Minister of Police Maggie Sotyu and the Police National Commissioner General Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega, known as Riah Phiyega, hailed on Umtshezi soil to lead the launch proceedings.Accompanying them were police personnel from all nine provinces in South Africa, to give opportunist criminals, looking to cash-in on this year’s festive season, a friendly warning.

The National Anthem was sung with a great amount of dignity after the arrival of the guest speakers. Thereafter personnel performed a parade and sky drivers exited an aircraft.
Once the crowd noticed the brightly coloured parachutes, screams echoed and an adrenaline rush surged through the air.
The Minister of Police, Nkosinathi Nhleko assured South Africans that security will be strengthened during the festive season. He then called on the public to report or expose any criminal activities in their communities.
“As government, we need your assistance in fighting crime,” he said.The festive season safety campaign will focus on armed robberies, liquor outlets, social crimes, tracking wanted criminals, road safety campaigns and border patrols.

He added that the campaign will be extended to rural communities throughout the country where stock theft is still a problem. He called on stockowners to always mark their livestock.Operation Duty Calls will conclude at the end of January 2015.The campaign is aimed at clamping down on a number of criminal activities, which include drug abuse and dealing as well as ATM bombings. One other main focus of the campaign is to ensure the safety of children over the festive season.

Operation Duty Calls will be carried out jointly with the departments of Defence, Home Affairs, Justice and Correctional Services, which were also present at the launch.The Justice and Crime Prevention Security Cluster (JCPS) also took the opportunity to visit the community of Wembezi. Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said they chose to launch the campaign in Wembezi because the area experienced violence before the elections in May.

“We committed to people that even after the elections we will continue to monitor the area. We want to assure our people that we are here for them,” she said. Wembezi was one of the areas identified as a hotspot before the elections.National Police Commissioner General Riah Phiyega also called on communities to expose any suspicious activities in their communities, as the people committing crime are known to us. “Ensuring your safety is our daily task. We do not only focus on it over the festive season. We discuss and devise ways of responding to crime in South Africa throughout the year.

“We have realised the importance of involving you, the people we serve, to give you a say in how policing should be implemented in your community,” she said. “The police have the safety and security of all law-abiding citizens at heart,” she said. Phiyega said the campaign will also focus on ensuring the safety of women and children.
On behalf of the police, Phiyega said they will be out in full force working around the clock to ensure citizens a peaceful and restful festive season.

A pledge was signed by the mayors of Umtshezi and Imbabazane municipalities well as the Minister of Police and National Police Commissioner to say they fully support the operational plan, which was handed over to the Minister of Police, Nkosinathi Nhleko. The launch of the campaign has brought hope to the locals, who said they were looking forward to a crime-free festive season.

In closing Phiyega added: “Every home is a police station, the head of each home acts as a station commander, everyone somewhere, somehow knows something about crime so let us ensure our communities are safe this festive season.” Members of the public with information about criminal activities are advised to call Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or the SAPS Emergency Line on 10111.