Police Minister Bheki Cele today kicks-off his countrywide South African Police Service (SAPS) Festive Season Inspection Tour.
On 15 October 2021, SAPS launched the National Safer Festive Season Operations under the theme, 'Extending our reach through blue light visibility'. The annual Safer Festive Season operations are aimed at ensuring the safety of all within the borders of South Africa over the holiday period.
The inspection tour will kick off in Limpopo province on 13 December and will end in KwaZulu-Natal on 22 December.
Ministry of Police spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said the Minister, together with the SAPS management team at national and the respective provinces, would assess the effectiveness of the resources channelled to areas where they are most needed to ensure police deal decisively with persistent crimes.
“The visit forms part of overall efforts by the South African Police Service to tighten the grip on contact and violent crimes this festive season,” she said.
Aligned with the theme (Extending our reach through blue light visibility), the inspection tour is expected to focus on visible policing and conducting special crime awareness and prevention operations; targeting crimes prevalent during the festive period. These include gender-based violence and crimes against children, border security, and contravention of road and traffic regulations.
Cele in the statement said every safer festive season plan is unique to the province.
“We once again usher in the festive season during a pandemic that has been devastating to our country. During this time, police will continue to ensure maximum compliance of the regulations to minimise the spread of the virus.
“We know that criminals will try and take advantage of this time that is usually categorised by festivities, social gatherings and leisure.
“While we urge South Africans to remain alert and be aware of their surroundings at all times to avoid being easy targets for criminals, the country’s officers in blue in all provinces will be at hand. Their respective safer festive season plans are already in full swing and will be intensified as the year comes to a close.”
The Minister said the plans are not a one-size-fits-all, but are instead tailored to the needs of the respective provinces and are based on their crime situations.
“I am sure the police will give criminals a hard time and squeeze out the space for anyone with criminal intent,” he said.
The SAPS National Safer Festive Season operations are set to continue until 31 January 2022. – SAnews.gov.za
