Pic: Lirandzu Themba
The Police Ministry has urged sister-government departments to urgently help address drivers of criminality in areas grappling with high crime levels and gangsterism in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The ministerial call comes as the SAPS officially launched ‘Operation Shanela’ in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape on Friday.
Following the launch, Police Minister Bheki Cele, together with National Commissioner, Fannie Masemola and his management team interacted with communities residing in the northern suburbs of the on their safety concerns.
While on the walk-about on the streets of Gelvandale and surrounding areas, Minister Cele noted with concern, the high number of children of school going age, loitering around during school time.
“These areas need far more than law enforcement to make life better, it is very clear the police alone won’t win the war on crime.
“The high rate of children not going to school, pushes them towards criminality and gangsterism.
“This is why we again make the call for a whole of government and whole society approach to fighting crime, we call on government to descend here and all other areas with similar problems to address the drivers of crime by dealing with issues of education, human settlement, unemployment and other socio economic factors,” said Cele.
The SAPS said it remains on track in its intensified and aggressive response to crime, since the inception of ‘Operation Shanela’ in May, over 100,000 suspects have been arrested for serious and violent crimes, including murder, rape, robbery, possession of firearms and drugs.
Around 10,000 of the arrests took place during operations in the Eastern Cape.
