De Lille, SAPS join forces to fight crime

The Western Cape police commissioner and Mayor Patricia de Lille are committed to fight crime together in Gugulethu.

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Cape Town - Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula and Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille in Gugulethu on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment in fighting crime together.

The pair went on a walkabout of the community, engaging with residents.

Jula said: “In our obligation, we are required to ensure our communities are safe and they feel safe.”

De Lille demonstrated her commitment towards the partnership in the fight against crime, he said.

Jula would make sure it was a partnership that yields results in ensuring the safety of communities.

“We are making a lot of breakthroughs together in our integrated approach, we are re-organising ourselves.

“We have a responsibility to keep on evaluating whether we are making an impact.

“An impact which will be in line with the expectations of the communities we serve,” he said.

Jula said the province has serious problems with drugs and gangsterism and, along with other serious crime, the partnership between police and the city was very important.

“We are here today in the spirit of co-operative governance to reaffirm our commitment to working with the SAPS to address the scourge of crime across our city,” De Lille said.

“According to Section 64C(2)(g) of the South African Police Service Act, No. 68 of 1995, an annual police plan must be developed by the executive head of the municipal police service after consultation with the South African Police Service and relevant community policing forums. We are currently drawing up the 2016/17 plan for submission to Lieutenant General Jula by the end of April,” she said.

The “scourge of crime” requires the city, provincial government, police and residents to play a part, she said.

On the issue of resources many communities have said are lacking, Jula said they were “grateful for the support they are receiving from the acting national police commissioner in terms of allocating more resources to the province”.

“In our level, we are re-organising ourselves, we are going to be raising the bar, there’s going to be more accountability, more visibility, interventions in order to ensure that we deal with the problem and no criminal is going to remain untouched,” he said.

siyabonga.kalipa@inl.co.za

Cape Argus