Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
The Amajuba District and Newcastle SAPS hit the town’s streets on Friday, 11 November 2022, masspatrolling various areas. These ranged from the Amajuba Mall, Newcastle Corner, Newcastle Mall to areas such as Kirkland Street and Scott Street in Newcastle’s CBD.
This follows the South African Police Service (SAPS) launching its nationwide safer festive operations on Friday, under the theme of more boots on the ground towards enhanced police visibility.
*PAID ADVERTISING
The national launch served as a precursor to the provincial launches, ushering in a season of heightened visibility countrywide. This was coupled with intensified, integrated crime prevention and crime combatting operations, as the SAPS strive to ensure the well-being and safety of all residents and tourists in the country—during the festive season and beyond.
With the campaign running through to the end of January 2023, the aim is to mobilise maximum resources with the view of stamping the States’s authority to ensure that communities are and feel safe and secure.
According to the SAPS, the plan entails six focus areas which will be prioritised by the police throughout the festive season.
Regarding the first focus area, the SAPS will intensify campaigns and police actions towards addressing the scourge of Gender Based Violence and Femicide which include, intimate crimes committed against women, children and other vulnerables. This will include the tracing of wanted GBVF perpetrators.
In the second focus area, the SAPS will intensify efforts to combat aggravated robberies, such as carjacking, robberies at residential premises and business robberies.
The third focus area will be enhancing border security which will be characterised by search operations on suspicion of stolen property being smuggled out of the country; the illegal crossing of borders, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and tracing of wanted suspects.
The fourth focus area will centre on the enforcement of legislation in the police’s strife to deal decisively with the proliferation of illegal firearms. They will also be enforcing legislation applicable to Liquor, Second-Hand Goods; as well as the safety of sports and recreational events.
The fifth and sixth focus areas will concentrate on enforcing by-laws and ensuring the enforcement of road safety together with metro and national traffic law enforcement officers.
The Acting National Commissioner of the SAPS, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili stressed that heightened police visibility will be the order of the day over the period.
“Blitz operations will be conducted across all provinces on days and times aligned to the crime pattern and threat analyses. These crime prevention and combatting operations will run through to the end of January 2023,” affirmed Lt Gen Mosikili
Newcastle SAPS’s Lieutenant Colonel Hadebe explained that Friday’s operation truly saw local police officers’ boots hitting the ground, with the team of officers splitting up into various groups and spreading through town. This not only created visibility but noted numerous stop and searches, checking suspicious cars and looking for dangerous weapons.
While Friday’s operation proved to gather attention, with officers patrolling the CBD and shopping malls, Lieutenant Colonel Hadebe assured this was just the beginning. “The K9 Unit is also involved and the dogs will be sniffing around with their partners,” she pointed out.
As the SAPS now dedicate themselves to creating a safer festive season, what are your thoughts on the above-mentioned?
Share your views in the comment section below.
