By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
MINMEC (an intergovernmental coordination body that brings together Police Ministers and the provincial community safety MECs) unanimously endorsed a Police Reset Agenda aimed at restoring professionalism, integrity, accountability, and operational excellence in the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Addressing the media on Saturday, minister of Police Feroz Cachalia said, the MINMEC meeting was a defining moment that shifted the forum from a routine intergovernmental meeting into a strategic platform institutionalising a common national programme for policing reform.
MINMEC reaffirmed the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy, recognising that crime cannot be tackled through law enforcement alone and requires coordinated action on its social, economic and environmental drivers.
It also resolved to strengthen Community Policing Forums and expand partnerships with business, civil society, traditional leaders and faith-based organisations.
As part of the reforms, government has identified 140 high-crime police station precincts as priority intervention sites.
“MINMEC resolved to prioritise interventions in 140 high-crime police station precincts across the country,” Cachalia said.
He added that the stations “will become the first implementation sites of the Reset Agenda, receiving targeted operational support, enhanced oversight, improved resource allocation, infrastructure upgrades and rigorous performance monitoring.”
The move comes as government faces mounting pressure to address violent crime, organised criminal syndicates, gender-based violence and declining public trust in law enforcement.
Cachalia said the reforms are designed to restore professionalism, integrity and accountability within SAPS while transforming it into a modern, intelligence-led police service.
He said that the National Organised Crime Strategy, led by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, was also endorsed in the meeting.
The strategy introduces a far more integrated, intelligence-driven, and multidisciplinary response to organized crime, illicit economies, and violent criminal syndicates operating across provincial boundaries.
He added that four new provincial police commissioners will be appointed as part of efforts to strengthen leadership within the SAPS.
Cachalia said the appointments form part of a broader policing plan aimed at improving operational effectiveness.
“Critical funded vacancies are being filled across the organization, including strategic appointments within crime intelligence, operational policing, and support environments to strengthen frontline policing and improve organizational capacity.”
“As part of strengthening leadership and stabilizing command structures, the acting National Commissioner, together with the Premiers and MECs in the respective provinces, will soon announce the appointment of four provincial commissioners, which indicates an important milestone in restoring stability, accountability.”
Meanwhile Democratic Alliance (DA) Deputy Spokesperson on Police Ian Cameron said, policing reset ignored DNA crisis.
Cameron said, “South Africa has hundreds of thousands of outstanding forensic exhibits sitting in our labs. Tens of thousands relate to rape, murder, and child sexual offences. While that evidence gathers dust, victims wait years for justice. Offenders walk free. And more victims are created. All this despite the Acting Minister repeating the President’s call that GBV be treated as a National Priority.”
“The troubling reality is that forensic scientists have told us that the system is so overwhelmed that some cases are effectively being rationed. This is not a forensic system but crisis management, and it risks losing evidence that could put dangerous criminals behind bars.”
The Minister must acknowledge he can no longer pretend that the SAPS can solve this alone. Even if every state lab was fully staffed overnight, the backlog would take years to clear. We need to bring in accredited universities and private labs to help, while maintaining quality and integrity. The only avenue to addressing the crisis is by bringing in and collaborating with competent partners and forming actual partnerships in policing, added Cameron.