DA welcomes implementation of SAPS Rural Safety Strategy
6 October 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the announcement from the South African Police Service (SAPS) that there will be a closer relationship between the police in rural areas and the communities they serve.
General Khehla Sitole, the National Commissioner of the South African Police, said in a statement yesterday that national and local Joint Rural Safety Command Centres would be established in rural areas across South Africa.
These centres would make it easier to respond to and prevent crime and would be capacitated with enough personnel and resources, including helicopters and drones and use of crime intelligence, to address the serious safety concerns that exit in our rural areas.
It is certainly a welcome change that the rural safety of farmers, farm workers and community members are being taken seriously by senior members of SAPS instead of them being told that they should fend for themselves as the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, told farmers in Normandien in KwaZulu-Natal.