Pretoria - Government has vowed not to allow criminals to rule the country's streets, homes and businesses.
Speaking at the 10th International Centre for the Prevention of Crime Colloquium (ICPC) and Governance Meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said government had embarked on concerted efforts to fight crime smartly and toughly.
"...we remain optimistic that the tide against crime is turning and that more and more South Africans are joining the crusade to reduce crime. We shall continue to sharpen our arsenal, identify and consolidate the current partnerships, improve training of our personnel, and improve our forensics, detectives in order to secure more convictions," he said.
Mthethwa added that the challenge was to transform South Africa into a place of hope, security and human fulfillment.
Criminal acts denied and took away the most elementary human rights, Mthethwa noted.
Detailing efforts to fight crime, Mthethwa said police visibility had been an effective form of crime prevention, with a lot of work and resources going into this area.
"One of the objectives of this approach has been to ensure that police remain in touch with their communities, being welcome at community gatherings, and not, as in the past, lurk in armoured cars and barbed wires," he added.
Government would continue to provide police with the resources and equipment they needed to carry out their duties, including prioritising the building of new police stations. It was also committed to ensuring that policing became a professional activity with emphasis on better training and recruitment programs.
"We have now tasked the police management to prioritize training and discipline, which must be underpinned by a deeper commitment to the Constitution and a culture of service to the people. There must be a good appreciation of the distinction between the need to use maximum force against violent criminals and, minimum force in dealing with fellow citizens," the minister said.
Mthethwa said police believed in a community-policing philosophy which is anchored around partnerships. The communities that police protect were key to these partnerships.
"This partnership must answer this crucial question: is there a harmonious and symbiotic relationship between the police and communities? Empirical evidence that indeed such a mutual relationship exists as seen in the latest crime statistics which indicated that in areas where there are effective," he said.
Community policing was the "central plank" to the approach to policing.
"We have seen the positive results of this approach in the past three years. This is informed by the recognition that it is not police alone who combat and prevent crime. The police are, and always must be, subject to the will of the people they serve."
He noted that since its inception the ICPC had worked to make the knowledge base for strategic crime prevention and community safety better known and more accessible worldwide.
Mthethwa challenged the ICPC to consider how its contribution had impacted on the safety of South Africans and what more it could do to help combat crime.
