Brigadier Novela Potelwa, head of communication,South African Police Service Western Cape
This letter is in response to John Cloete, United Public Safety Front (“Speaking up,” Plainsman, April 25).
The SAPS in the Western Cape notes the contents of the letter in question and wishes to reiterate the following:
We welcome and acknowledge input from community-based organisations and all role-players, especially if they contribute towards the enhancement of the safety of the communities in this province.
Any murder that occurs is deeply regretted and viewed in a serious light by the SAPS. Murders that occur on the Cape Flats and anywhere else within the Western Cape remain a concern for the SAPS, hence on a continuous basis we subject our policing strategies and tactics to evaluation and review.
It is on that basis that Project Impi has recently been restored and additional resources have been allocated in order to enhance and capacitate in particular, specialised firearm investigations.
In addition within the detective environment as a response to murders and other serious crimes plaguing certain communities, a couple of interventions were recently introduced, namely: The establishment of a Specialist Gang Investigation Group comprising members of Operation Combat 2 to probe gang-related cases, including the trafficking of firearms; the establishment of a Specialist Firearm Group to investigate corruption that relates to firearms and newly found firearms and their origin; and the establishment of the Serious Violent Crimes Group to probe all other serious crimes such as taxi violence and murders.
In recognition of the challenge of gang violence and its manifestations in the Western Cape, the latest intervention from the SAPS head office is a national intervention team comprising members from high risk units that have descended on various parts of the Cape Flats to assist in fighting gang violence.
This intervention though temporary, will bolster our forces significantly.
As the SAPS we recognise all community-based organisations.
Their respective contributions towards crime fighting in this province matter most.
Our doors remain open to all engagement that will ultimately result in sustainable efforts to defeat serious and violent crimes afflicting Western Cape communities. Our vision is that of building safer communities.
