Crime in check, says top Gauteng cop

TWO YEARS after LieutenantGeneral Mzwandile Petros took over as Gauteng’s top cop, he’s on a tour of the province to see what’s worked and what hasn’t in the fight against crime.

“When I arrived here I was given a mandate that people in South Africa should not only feel safe, but be safe,” Petros told a gathering of businesses and community members in Kempton Park last night.

At the time, residents told him what they wanted from Gauteng’s police: better visibility, a more responsive force, access to services, experienced detectives, and less corruption.

“Now, if you’re driving around our freeways, you’ll see police,” said Petros.

“We introduced sector polic- ing… two vehicles in each sector and a cellphone in each vehicle.”

He said this direct connection between officers and the community would go a long way to making up for the SAPS’s inability to build more stations over the past two years. “The number of crimes in Gauteng is coming down,” he insisted.

Business Against Crime CEO Dr Graham Wright said vehicle theft and hijackings were down from 17.5 vehicles a thousand in 1998 to 6.5 vehicles a thousand last year. He called for further collaboration between business and police, with businesses providing specialist expertise to help build the SAPS’s capacity.

Community police forums (CPFs) at the meeting were unanimous in their commen- dation of the noticeable changes over the past two years, but said they needed to see successful prosecutions in court.

“Our police officers work their butts off,” said Edenvale CPF chairwoman Linda McKenzie. “But sometimes the cases don’t even get to court, which must be very demoralising for our boys in blue.”

Some pointed a finger directly at inept detectives.

Petros admitted that inexperience remained a problem.

“You can never buy experience over the counter. Experience means you’ve actually lived what you’re doing. You cannot crook this one.”

Others asked for better cooperation between police and CPFs, full access to crime statistics, and more vehicles in townships specifically.