Cape Town – Police Minister Bheki Cele has urged police officers to prioritise enforcing the law rather than getting involved with criminals.
Cele said this on Saturday, as he launched Operation Shanela, a high-density crime crackdown, in Durban alongside the national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola and KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lieutennt-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
“You must enforce the law against those who commit crime. The law must take its course. The bigger law of the country, called the constitution, instructs you to uphold the law and enforce it, so go and do that. Don’t romance criminals,” Times Live quoted Cele as saying.
He criticised instances of police officers being connected to criminal activities, referencing an incident where a police vehicle was found with illegal guns.
“They put illegal guns, illegal everything, to go and run criminality using our own cars and they are members of the flying squad in uniform in the marked car with state resources.”
[ON AIR] Police Minister Bheki Cele is in KZN as part of Operation Shanela. It comes a day after releasing the crime stats for the past quarter. #DStv403 #eNCA pic.twitter.com/K4KWg7UM10
— eNCA (@eNCA) August 19, 2023
He emphasised the need for the police force to combat criminality from within.
Cele also noted KwaZulu-Natal’s prominence in mass shooting incidents and expressed concerns about criminal activity around certain hostels.
According to SA News, Operation Shanela, continues to make a positive contribution to the decline of crime in the country, the latest crime stats have revealed.
According to crime statistics released by Cele on Friday, Operation Shanela has netted 99 754 suspects for various crimes, including murder, rape, assault and other serious charges.
The quarterly crime statistics reflecting on crimes reported and detected by the South African Police Service (SAPS) from 1 April to 30 June 2023, showed that for the first time since Covid-19 reached the country’s shores in 2020, the murder rate of the country has declined in a single quarter.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
