By Johnnie Isaac
Eastern Cape government efforts to combat crime during the festive season have been boosted with addition of 50 police vehicles. This was announced by the Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane during the launch of Operation Buya Mthetho at Gompo Stadium in East London. The operation was launched by Mabuyane, Safety Liaison and Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe and Eastern Cape SAPS Commissioner Leftanant-General Liziwe Ntshinga.
Speaking during the launch that was attended by hundreds of Buffalo City Metro residents Mabuyane said Buya Mthetho aims at restoring the rule of law in the province, Mabuyane said, “Tourists and investors must enjoy themselves in our province during this holiday season. We are going to maintain police visibility in all shopping malls to prevent crimes such as ATM fraud and pickpocketing of people’s wallets.”
Mabuyane said he has asked Lieutenant -General Ntshinga to also deploy undercover police in order to catch criminals while unaware that they are being policed. He urged communities to work with police and report perpetrators of crime that are known to them. Mabuyane said: “We must report crime even we know the people that are perpetrating such criminal acts. We must make life hard for criminals and force them to find other ways of earning the living. We are not going allow them to continue to make living through the sweat of others.”
He said the 50 additional police vehicles will ensure the success of operation Buya Mthetho. Mabuyane also urged the police to be sensitive towards the people that are reporting crimes to the police. “We don’t want to hear stories of people being told that there’s no police van when someone goes to report a matter to the police. Everyone who goes to police station must be attended, if someone came in tears they must leave police stations feeling comforted,” added Mabuyane.
Meanwhile, Ntshinga said people that have been arrested for serious crimes after the launch of Operation Buya Mthetho will only have bail hearings in February next year. She said police are engaging National Prosecuting Authority through the security cluster ministry. Ntshinga said the province has a high numbers of people who abuse alcohol and drugs during festive season. She said taverns that do not comply with their licence regulatory terms will be closed.
“From Thursday we will be all out monitoring taverns to see if they comply with their regulatory terms. That will be followed up by combat, when we are conducting combat we will shut down taverns that do not comply. For those that are operating illegal shebeens we will shut them down immediately and confiscate the alcohol. We are also warning people that are drinking alcohol along the beachfront, those you often find drinking from their car boots in non-designated areas, we will arrest you and confiscate your alcohol,” said Ntshinga.
