Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma appears to have impressed his ministers during the third State of the Nation Address that was widely welcomed on Thursday.
Zuma spoke at length about employment but also focused on crime prevention and corruption, education and healthcare. He said government will continue to improve the capacity of police and detective services.
Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa told BuaNews his ministry will be working towards improving training of forensic specialists in a bid to crack down on more complex crime. "We have taken note of the President's comments on the need to reduce this scourge of crime and I can tell you we are working very hard to ensure that we have the necessary skills needed to combat crime in this country.
"Part of what we doing is focusing on the training of detectives and improving our forensic skills within the police service," Mthethwa said.
Government has listed crime and combating corruption among its five key priorities.
Mthethwa said the police will also continue to roll out the rural safety plans that are aimed at dealing with the rampant violent crimes that have hit most parts of the country particularly in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
Statistics show that violent crime was declining in South Africa with murders falling 8.6 percent to under 17 000 a year.
But Mthethwa said until government takes committed steps to stamp out crime at all levels, it would probably take time to reduce the country's high crime rate.
"We have got to take very painful decisions and we are happy with the commitments the President is making particularly in as far as capacitating the police and channeling more resources to the force".
The minister said the police have procured 1 385 new vehicles for use in rural areas. The vehicles range from high-powered 4x4s to high-tech equipped vans and sedans which will be used in remote areas which did not even have proper road infrastructure.
National Police Commissioner, General Bheki Cele, conceded that drug smuggling and organised crime remained a major challenge facing the police.
"There are two specific things the President alluded to and that's drug abuse and the use of alcohol and we as the South African Police Service have taken a very strong stance against the abuse of alcohol and drugs and its and ongoing effort to ensure that we stamp out the practice," Cele told BuaNews.
Cele said the South African police will continue to cooperate with forces in neighbouring countries and Interpol in a bid to combat the threat of terrorism and other cross-border crime incidents.
"We are broadening our scope because criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated so we want to be ahead of them in every move they take".
Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula welcomed Zuma's commitment to reducing the backlog currently facing the country's courts.
"We are working with other departments such as the Justice Department and SAPS to ensure that we have a system that encouraged rehabilitation among offenders and as we implement the President's stance on crime and corruption we also ought to be finding lasting solution to the problems we face and part of what we are doing as Correctional Services is sending offenders back to school and it has been working very well so far," Mapisa-Nqakula told BuaNews.
