By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Acting president, Paul Mashatile says, the SA Police Service (SAPS) and crime intelligence agencies will within the next week convene a meeting to finalise a government-wide plan to deal with crime.
Mashatile, who chairs the justice, crime prevention and security cluster in the cabinet, said the plan would possibly involve the state injecting more financial resources into crime intelligence.
Mashatile acknowledged that the police have been criticised for their reactive approach, often responding to incidents only after they have escalated.
He was responding to the uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) party’s member, John Hlophe, and assured that the government is working on a comprehensive plan to address this.
“The fight against crime by the police must be intelligence-driven. And more resources must go to intelligence because we don’t want them to put more boots on the ground and they go into the dark, “he said.
The deputy president said he promised an increase in resources for intelligence and training more police officers.
“As you know, well be training training 10 000 of them to add to the numbers. And we need this intelligence. So the comprehensive plan that we are finalising next Thursday is looking exactly at this matter.”
Mashatile also addressed the issue of police using force, stating that while police are trained to protect, they must also be able to defend themselves in situations of violence.
“We train a lot of police; we give them guns, and we don’t want them to die with the guns in their holsters,” he said.
Mashatile encouraged police officers to use their guns if they found themselves toe-to-toe with armed criminals.
He emphasised that the government is reviewing legislation to ensure that police are not restricted from acting in such situations.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) recorded 153 637 contact crimes during the first quarter of this financial year, an increase of 2.6% compared to the same period last year, the statistics show.