Cele’s crime fighting plans get support from experts

Police Minister Bheki Cele’s latest crime plans to implement a turnaround strategy in fighting crime have received support from experts.

Criminologist Yasmin Baccus reflected on the release of the quarterly crime statistics which showed that murder, attempted murder and sexual offences increased in the country.

Buccus says citizens need to play their part by giving the minister their full support.

“Full confidence in the minister of police. He has very openly said that the strategies that he has employed thus far have not worked. They have to re-strategise and obviously go full gear into how they can try and reduce crime in the various provinces.”

Crime hotspot areas include KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Free State and the Western Cape.

Cele admitted that the South African Police Services (SAPS) is finding it hard to deal with certain crimes, mentioning Cash-In-Transit heists in particular.

Compared to the previous quarter, Q3 saw 26 more cash-in-transit robberies committed in the country. Other crimes which saw an increase during this period include murder, house robberies and rape.

Cele released the country’s crime stats on Friday:

“So I think that he is definitely sitting with his top team, he is taking a re-look at matters under COVID-19 circumstances – what has worked and what hasn’t worked and he would definitely bring about a difference in Q4. I think we need to put our confidence behind him,” explains Buccus.