New fleet of helicopters and vehicles to help fight crime

The SAPS recently gathered at the Training Academy in Pretoria West for the unveiling of new crime-fighting equipment.

The unveiling is just in time for the 2025/26 National Safer Festive Season Operations launch, taking place this week.

The two brand new H125 helicopters, as well as 12 Marshall vehicles, are meant to add capacity to the police’s fleet.

SAPS National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, said that the equipment will help improve service delivery and increase efficiency in fulfilling their constitutional mandate of preventing, combating, and investigating crime, among others.

“Resources of this kind are crucial in the fight against crime, especially serious and violent crime, hence we deemed it necessary to acquire them.”

Masemola said the helicopters and vehicles will definitely benefit their specialised units, such as the Special Task Force, Tactical Response Team, National Intervention Unit, Public Order Policing, and Visible Policing.

He said the new fleet, “Will play a critical role in responding to organised crime incidents such as crash-in-transit heists, hijackings, armed robberies, including many other serious and violent crimes. The helicopters will enable us to respond rapidly to crime scenes and serve the people of South Africa timeously and effectively.”

The equipment will assist in making officers’ jobs easier, especially during the weekly Operation Shanela efforts carried out nationwide, which can result in tens of thousands of arrests.

Masemola implored his fellow members to use the equipment to execute their duties thoroughly.

He reminded them that they must always serve the public first and foremost.

“Remember, this fleet belongs to the people of South Africa, and they must see and feel a difference every time we acquire additional resources. Always use every resource and every capability we have in the service for the benefit of all the communities we serve,” Masemola said.

The Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, said that the handover was a result of a long-term procurement effort, in place since 2018 to replenish and refurbish the resources necessary to enforce policing in the modern age.

Cachalia said that the equipment will help fight organised crime and maintain public order, with one helicopter being stationed in the Eastern Cape and the other in Gauteng.

“The police are in the process of implementing the recommendations of the Farlam Commission, with respect to public order policing.”

The Farlam Commission was an enquiry headed by Judge Ian Farlam into the Marikana massacre when 34 miners were killed by police in 2012.

Police must be equipped to “ensure peace and order in protest action that, unfortunately, in our country often turns violent,” Cachalia said.

He said that this should be a long-term effort that remains consistent with the values of the Constitution.

The Deputy Commissioner, General Tebello Mosikili, thanked the management of Paramount South Africa and Airbus South Africa for their attendance and manufacturing of the equipment.

Mosikili also thanked the commissioner, minister and all other dignitaries involved, as she believes that the procurement will help South Africans enjoy a safer festive season.

“This new fleet will surely go a long way in ensuring our members are able to render policing services effectively and efficiently to the benefit of South African residents who are our key stakeholders,” she said.

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