The South African Police Service (SAPS) in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies have launched their 2019/2020 Safer Festive Season Campaign in Umlazi, South of Durban.
In a statement issued Police Ministry Spokesperson Ms. Lirandzu Themba: “Launched under the theme, ZIZOJIKA IZINTO – TURNING THE TIDE AGAINST CRIME, crime prevention operations led by top management in the Department of Police took place in various parts of the city. The National launch is aimed at ensuring that specific interventions are put in place nationwide to safeguard South Africans ahead of the busy festive season. During this period, members of the SAPS will be working around the clock to conduct operations countrywide focusing on increased visibility of police officers at shopping centre and other public areas. There will also be operations and patrols conducted at all of South Africa’s ports of entry to keep an eye on the increased movement of people going through the country’s borders.
“Operations will be primarily focused on crimes against women and children as well as contact crimes such as murder, attempted murder, assault, sexual offenses. Multi-disciplinary operations across the country will stamp the authority of the state by seizing illegal firearms, arresting transport related offenses and intercept Trio crimes such as Cash-In-Transit heists.”
National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Khehla Sitole, warned South Africans to be responsible and obey the law. He said: “A zero tolerance approach will be followed against the abuse of alcohol, especially drinking in public, substance abuse and crimes related to it. Parents and caretakers of children, especially young children will be charged in terms of the Children’s Act, 38 of 2005 if they neglect or abandon their children as it has been a tendency over the festive season for some parents to conveniently ‘lose’ their children to partake in festive season activities and leave their children abandoned or unattended to.”
The ministry statement continued: “The safer festive season operations will be launched in other provinces, and will be aligned with the National Safer Festive Season launch. In conjunction with the launch of the safer festive operations, the SAPS together with Vodacom proudly launched the MySaps Mobile App. The first of its kind on the continent, the App is designed to provide South Africans with a new and easy access to police stations and report criminals and their activities (tip-offs).”
The new app “will allow citizens to interact with law enforcement officials more effectively” by:
· Providing tip-offs anonymously through the app
· Finding nearest police stations and facilities
Police Minister, General Bheki Cele says the MySAPS App will see “policing team up with technology to rid the streets of criminality”.
Cele said: “This App aims to bring communities closer to government services by a touch a button, it also encourages anonymous tip-offs from members of the public that can assist with crime fighting and for quicker responses to lawlessness committed. It is clear with this piece of technology at our disposal, we as the Police Service are a step closer to turning the tide against crime.”
The Police Ministry statement explained: “Upon registering on the platform, and creating a profile, users will be able to view a directory of police stations along with nearby social service facilities. To make use of the tip-off facility, within the app or via USSD, users can select to report the crime anonymously, which will ensure their profile is not shared. They can then proceed to identify the type of incident, whether it is corruption, drug-related, theft or human trafficking. They will then need to provide the incident details (who, what, when, where and how they know about the crime), as well as provide the suspect’s details anonymously, to help the SAPS create a profile of the suspect.
“Once they’ve completed all the necessary fields, the person reporting the crime or tip-off will receive a reference number, which they can use to add additional information relevant to the crime, or follow up on the progress that’s been made. The MySAPS app is available for all in South Africa to download onto their smartphones from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. A USSD string is also available for feature phone users. A reminder that victims of crime must be physically present at their nearest police station to open a case for further investigation.”
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In a statement issued Police Ministry Spokesperson Ms. Lirandzu Themba: “Launched under the theme, ZIZOJIKA IZINTO – TURNING THE TIDE AGAINST CRIME, crime prevention operations led by top management in the Department of Police took place in various parts of the city. The National launch is aimed at ensuring that specific interventions are put in place nationwide to safeguard South Africans ahead of the busy festive season. During this period, members of the SAPS will be working around the clock to conduct operations countrywide focusing on increased visibility of police officers at shopping centre and other public areas. There will also be operations and patrols conducted at all of South Africa’s ports of entry to keep an eye on the increased movement of people going through the country’s borders.
“Operations will be primarily focused on crimes against women and children as well as contact crimes such as murder, attempted murder, assault, sexual offenses. Multi-disciplinary operations across the country will stamp the authority of the state by seizing illegal firearms, arresting transport related offenses and intercept Trio crimes such as Cash-In-Transit heists.”
National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Khehla Sitole, warned South Africans to be responsible and obey the law. He said: “A zero tolerance approach will be followed against the abuse of alcohol, especially drinking in public, substance abuse and crimes related to it. Parents and caretakers of children, especially young children will be charged in terms of the Children’s Act, 38 of 2005 if they neglect or abandon their children as it has been a tendency over the festive season for some parents to conveniently ‘lose’ their children to partake in festive season activities and leave their children abandoned or unattended to.”
The ministry statement continued: “The safer festive season operations will be launched in other provinces, and will be aligned with the National Safer Festive Season launch. In conjunction with the launch of the safer festive operations, the SAPS together with Vodacom proudly launched the MySaps Mobile App. The first of its kind on the continent, the App is designed to provide South Africans with a new and easy access to police stations and report criminals and their activities (tip-offs).”
The new app “will allow citizens to interact with law enforcement officials more effectively” by:
· Providing tip-offs anonymously through the app
· Finding nearest police stations and facilities
Police Minister, General Bheki Cele says the MySAPS App will see “policing team up with technology to rid the streets of criminality”.
Cele said: “This App aims to bring communities closer to government services by a touch a button, it also encourages anonymous tip-offs from members of the public that can assist with crime fighting and for quicker responses to lawlessness committed. It is clear with this piece of technology at our disposal, we as the Police Service are a step closer to turning the tide against crime.”
The Police Ministry statement explained: “Upon registering on the platform, and creating a profile, users will be able to view a directory of police stations along with nearby social service facilities. To make use of the tip-off facility, within the app or via USSD, users can select to report the crime anonymously, which will ensure their profile is not shared. They can then proceed to identify the type of incident, whether it is corruption, drug-related, theft or human trafficking. They will then need to provide the incident details (who, what, when, where and how they know about the crime), as well as provide the suspect’s details anonymously, to help the SAPS create a profile of the suspect.
“Once they’ve completed all the necessary fields, the person reporting the crime or tip-off will receive a reference number, which they can use to add additional information relevant to the crime, or follow up on the progress that’s been made. The MySAPS app is available for all in South Africa to download onto their smartphones from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. A USSD string is also available for feature phone users. A reminder that victims of crime must be physically present at their nearest police station to open a case for further investigation.”
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