Policing a myriad protests in the North West have cost police R50 million, according to the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele.
The North West was hit by a series of protests earlier this year. Cele is on a two day visit to the North West to assess police readiness for festive operations.
Minister Bheki Cele, SAPS Provincial Commissioner Liut Gen Baile Motswenyane and COSATMA HoD Mme Botlhale Mofokeng interacting with motorist at a roadblock in Ramatlabama earlier today.@SAPoliceService #SaferFestiveSeason #RoadSafety pic.twitter.com/YEXVNsWSS0
— NWPGCommSafety (@NWPGCommSafety) December 18, 2018
The Ramatlabama border is seeing fewer commuters trickling into the country to kick-start the festive season. With the number of holiday makers expected to increase in the coming days, more law enforcers have been deployed.
“The bit of instability that has happened has caused some increase of some areas of crime but we are here today, we are here tomorrow. I’m sure after the festive busy has gone, we will come back and sit down and we’ll see what we can do. I think we have paid about R54 million that was not budgeted for. That’s the money we took from the operations, which means we are down in operations which usually prevent crime. I am happy we are on the cooler side but we need to pick up the pieces,” says Cele.
Minister Cele is expected to conclude his provincial visit in Rustenburg with a walk-about to assess police visibility.
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