- Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed that SAPS has been allocated R1.8 billion for the purchase of new vehicles.
- The minister shared the information during an unpacking of the latest crime statistics for South Africa.
- He says more vehicles will result in greater police visibility.
Police Minister Bheki Cele yesterday released the latest crime statistics for South Africa, revealing the figures for the period 1 January to 31 March 2023. The statistics showed declines in certain metrics, but they were still unpleasant reading, with up to 10,512 victims of rape reported in the first three months of this year.
According to Cele, one solution to this highly worrying problem is increased police visibility, which is why he confirmed that the Police Department has allocated R18 billion to acquire more vehicles for SAPS and other police forces.
How more vehicles on the road will cause a decrease in sexual assaults and violence was not addressed by the minister. With nearly half of the first quarter’s reported violations (4,768) at victims’ homes, R1.8 billion in new cars doesn’t seem like the immediate fix South Africans need.
By contrast, only R65 million has been allocated to the 30 serious police stations to deal with murder and other contact offences, according to Cele.
Given that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana allocated “R14 billion in the medium term to fight crime and corruption” in his 2023 budget speech earlier this year, it begs the question where will the rest of the budget come from.
As Godongwana unpacked, the following areas have been prioritized with much-needed funding:
- “The South African Police Service has R7.8 billion to appoint 5,000 police trainees a year.
- The National Fiscal Authority receives R1.3 billion to support the implementation of the recommendations of the State Capture Commission and the Financial Action Task Force.
- The Financial Intelligence Center is allocated an additional R265.3 million to tackle organized and financial crime.
- The Special Investigation Unit has 100 million rand to initiate civil litigation before the special court, based on proclamations linked to the recommendations of the State Capture Commission.
- The Department of Defense is being allocated an additional R3.1 billion to improve security at South Africa’s borders.”
Meanwhile, the emphasis seems to be on acquiring more technology for SAPS.
“SAPS is also enhancing specialized tracking teams, which will be further trained at the provincial and district level to effectively track and apprehend offenders. The tracking teams will be critical to the success of Operation Shanela, where also the emphasis is on the execution of arrest warrants,” Cele noted.
“More drone pilots are also being licensed and drone pilot interns are being hired. Body-worn cameras are being prioritized, as are gun spotters in high-crime areas,” he added .
Although it appears that a lot of money is being spent, it remains to be seen how effective they will be in improving the quality and efficiency of the police. Unfortunately, only future crime statistics briefings will provide an indication of whether any progress is being made.
[Image – CC BY-ND 2.0 GovernmentZA on Flickr]
