Pretoria - South Africa has been elected to be one of the 13 countries that form the executive committee of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) on a three-year mandate.
The executive committee consists of the president, three vice presidents and nine delegates representing the organisation’s four regions, namely Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. It holds a meeting three times a year to deliberate on organisational policy, guidance and direction.
The committee is an elective body responsible for complying with the resolutions of the general assembly, by which it supervises the execution of the decisions of the assembly.
The voting took place during the Interpol’s general assembly, which was held from Monday until Thursday in Kigali, Rwanda.
Over 190 countries voted in favour of South Africa, making it the sole African country to be the member of the committee.
The South African delegation in the executive committee will be headed by Brigadier Anbuen Naidoo, who is also the Head of the Interpol's National Central Bureau (NCB) situated in Pretoria.
The NCB has recently been incorporated into the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and will now report directly to the National Head of the DPCI Lieutenant General Mthandazo Ntlemeza.
The NCB is set to be staffed by highly trained police under the command and control of the DPCI which links the South African Police Service (SAPS) to global law enforcement agencies.
South Africa’s election, according to Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko, said they are humbled by the vote of confidence shown by fellow members of Interpol in the continent and vowed to continue playing a leading role in international policing.
“We commit to using this position to promote the interests of the continent in the global fight against international organised crime. We appreciate that this fight must have a global face and Interpol is that face.
“The Hawks’ leading role will strengthen South Africa’s footprint in building criminal databases and cooperating with other international policing agencies on cross border investigations, operations and arrests,” Minister Nhleko said. - SAnews.gov.za
