National police commissioner General Sehlahle Fannie Masemola has outlined how the police are planning on intensifying their efforts to deal with recent serious crimes which have gripped the country.
Hoping to restore some calm and order following the spade of murder and sexual assault incidents, Masemola accompanied by Police Minister Bheki Cele, Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya and other senior crime fighters, announced measure to be taken to fight crime.
Speaking at a media briefing at the SAPS academy in Tshwane on Monday, Masemola said the SAPS is working hard to enhance its policing methodology to reduce crime in the country. He said hotspots would be targeted between Mondays and Fridays as that has been seen as the periods when these crimes happen.
“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 said the SAPS will focus on tighter policing of gun laws and liquor and all the provinces would increase the visibility of policing operations. This is amid the surge of violent crimes which have been experienced over the past few weeks, particularly the spate of mass shootings which have been taking place in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town.
He said in July alone, the police confiscated 1,173 illegal firearms across the country. Masemola said of those guns confiscated, 1,035 were confiscated in Gauteng.
“About 7,738 live rounds of ammunition was confiscated and some of these were seized during roadblocks, as well as stolen vehicles and drugs. This reflects our determination to intensify our efforts to deal with the proliferation of firearms to deal with serious crimes.
“The past weekend was marred by shootings in KZN with the emphasis of this crime pattern. Provincial resources mobilising efforts to prevent this and apprehend the criminals have been mobilised.
“Over 22,000 suspects were arrested across the country in July for crimes committed against society. 3,193 were arrested for assault, 576 for murder, 360 for attempted murder and 177 for sexual offences,” Masemola said.
Source: News24, The Citizen, Sowetan Live, Herald Live, image from Sowetan Live: Freddy Mavunda