National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola (centre) at a media briefing on Monday at Saps Academy Tshwane. Picture: Twitter/ @SAPoliceService
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola says police are intensifying their efforts to deal with the recent incidents of serious and violent crimes in South Africa.
The management of the South African Police Service (Saps) briefed the media on Monday in Pretoria on interventions to address the crime picture in the country.
This followed the recent spate of mass shootings at taverns, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, and the gang rape of eight women in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg that has shocked the nation.
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Masemola said Saps management was working closely with provincial commissioners to enhance policing methods through blitz operations with high visibility and combat operations, especially during weekends.
The police chief said their response to the alarming incidents of violent crimes was informed by an analysis of crime threats and patterns in the country.
According to Saps’ Crime Threat and Pattern Analysis, serious and violent crimes were mostly committed between Fridays and Mondays.
“All provinces are now conducting simultaneous blitz operations with high visibility and combat operations throughout the weekend.
“These entail cordon and searches, as well as intelligence-driven, multi-disciplinary, disruptive operations,” Masemola said.
Masemola raised concerns over the proliferation of illegal firearms in communities. He revealed that in July alone, a total of 1 173 illegal firearms and 7 738 rounds of live ammunition were confiscated across the country.
1 035 of these firearms were confiscated in Gauteng alone.
“Some of these firearms, ammunition, and dangerous weapons were seized during roadblocks, as well as stolen vehicles and drugs.
“This reflects our determination as management of the Saps to intensify our efforts, dealing decisively with the proliferation of illegal firearms, thus reducing the volumes of serious and violent crimes,” Masemola said.
He said Saps was focusing further on the tighter enforcement of the Firearms Control Act, the National and Provincial Liquor Acts, and the Secondhand Goods Act.
Masemola also revealed that of the more than 22 320 suspects arrested across the country in July, 3 193 were arrested for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
576 were arrested for murder, 360 for attempted murder, 432 for rape, and 177 for sexual offences.
With the nation calling for police action on the Krugersdorp gang rape case, Masemola promised that police would leave “no stone unturned” in ensuring justice for the Krugersdorp rape victims.
“The multi-disciplinary team of investigators assigned to the West Village incident of multiple rapes of eight young women, will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the suspects are ultimately linked to the crimes, so that they can face the full might of the law,” he said.
It’s understood that the women, aged between 19 and 35, were recording a music video at an abandoned mine dump in West Village last week, when they were allegedly ambushed by a gang of zama zamas (illegal miners), who raped and robbed them.
Since then, as many as 80 suspects were arrested and were scheduled to appear on Monday in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court.
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